X
by skitty-chi
Summary: Nico hates everyone. Will is popular. Luke is an ass-hat. Jason and Percy act gayer than an awkward bathroom encounter. Nico's life goal is to avoid Will at all costs because if he doesn't, he is sentenced to a life he never wanted..Or does he? When destined to spend the rest of his life with a boy in his school, Nico tries everything in his power to avoid, but he is soon found out
1. Chapter 1- Hide and Seek

_**Hey y'all! Just finished exams and had surgery so this is how I've been spending my time when I should have been sleeping and studying. I've been reading books like crazy over the past few days: Fangirl, One Man Guy, and about to pick up The Maze Runner. This one was supposed to be a one shot, then a two part thing, four part things, now I'm not too sure how long it'll be. *awkward laugh***_

 _ **Enjoy**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER: Names Kitty, not Rick, so I don't own these sons of bitches.**_

Sometimes keeping a secret a secret is the only option you have when it seems like the entire world is out to get you. Well, not the entire world, but it does feel like it. Sometimes it's best to keep closed up from the world and just block out the rest. It's most useful to hide it when the secret could change your life and you're not too sure if it's going to be a good thing or not.

Nico had been at this for long enough to make sure he wasn't caught. No, it wasn't like he had some intense secret that had to be hidden; he just chose not to let the whole world know. Since like forever, it has been said that when you turn the age of sixteen, you receive a number written in roman numerals on your left forearm and the person you are destined to be with will have the exact same number written on theirs on their sixteenth birthday and if anything is to happen to them then your number shall disappear and a new one would come forth. Sometimes people will receive no number, indicating that they will be happy on their own or they are destined for someone in the future (mainly the people who lose people later on, as sad as that sounds).

For starters, Nico wasn't hiding the fact he had no number, he was hiding the fact he did have one. Now as weird as that sounds, Nico had a perfectly good reason to hide it and he was determined to keep it that way.

On the way to his first block class, he was stopped by the sound he grown all too used to. The sound of their voices sent shivers up his spine, turning his blood to ice. Ducking out of the way, he made a sharp turn down a hall that was not on his way to his English class.

The voices belonged to the kids that practically run this school. The group had boys and girls and he didn't want to run into anyone of them at any time. The boys consisted of Jason, Will, Percy, and Luke; girls consisted of Callie, Katie, Piper, and Annabeth. Nico didn't mind Annabeth because she was nice to him for they knew each other sense elementary and only really 'turned' when she started dating Percy. He didn't really mind him either, but he still had his moments.

As he made his way down the wrong hall, he decided he was just going to go the long way and avoid all chances of running into them. His locker was on the way, so he just dropped by it once last time, picking up supplies he needed for his block two class. _Hey, two birds with one stone_ , he thought to himself.

Barely making it on time, he sat down in his desk, organizing his textbooks. He shook off the looks he received from his classmates and teacher and got his pencil out. Note after note, Nico's hand started to cramp up, but he ignored it. He shook his wrists to try and loosen them up and his sleeves started to roll up on him. He quickly pulled them down and franticly started looking around to see if anyone saw his number.

Nico had a strange number. Written in roman numerals, it is a simple _X_. Written on his wrist was the letter _X_ , a number so strange and rare to come a crossed, it stood out. He remembered the day it appeared, the day of his sixteenth birthday. It had been a happy day. He didn't have it during the day though because he was born at night. He stayed up so late to see what it was, but because of a few late nights studying, he fell asleep soon after nine. When he awoke he expected it to be like Christmas, but what he found was not what he had wanted. A few months previous, he had overheard a few people talking (mainly because everyone was) about someone having a strange number. A number so singular it stood out. He had overheard that a boy from the popular group had gotten their number in the morning and it seemed quite odd. Apparently Will Solace had gotten the number _X_ written on his forearm, because of the simplicity of it and because of his popularity, people started to talk about it.

So, when Nico awoke from his slumber and found that his number was the same as Will's, he did everything within his power to prevent anyone (especially Will) from finding out. From that day forward he wore long sleeve shirts; sometimes he would wear way too much bracelets; sometimes he would wrap his wrist to hide it; sometimes he did all three. If anything could be said from that was that Nico was determined to keep this secret to the grave.

Nico was snapped back into reality from his thoughts when his teacher had asked him to read a passage from Romeo and Juliet. The part he had to read was small, but he didn't really like reading. English wasn't his first language and being slightly dyslexic didn't really help all that much. He struggled through it, but he managed to pull through in the end. He put the book down and stared at the notes he had copied only a few minutes previous then started doodling until the bell rang. The moment it did, he was out of there, books and all.

He was starting to think his luck had run dry because upon making it to math class, he run into (quite literally) Luke square in the back, causing him to drop his books. Apparently Luke had been talking to Thalia; Jason's sister, and seemed to be quite pissed about being interrupted mid-conversation. Nico froze in place looking into Luke's icy eyes. When he finally was able to pick himself up, he scrambled to collect his books before picking Luke's up.

Nico was about mid-apology when he was stopped dead in his tracks from the death glare given to him by the older boy. He handed Luke his book like a scared little mouse, quietly trying to apologize to him again for the millionth time in a row.

For a short second, Nico thought he was a dead man. The way Luke scowled at him seemed almost like the way a predator would stare down its prey. Nico was saved when Thalia put her hand on his shoulder and smiled slightly at him. It seemed like that had a silent conversation between the two of them, in the end, it seemed like Luke had lost because he grabbed his books back from Nico aggressively.

He thought he was in the clear until Luke handed his books to the girl and grabbed Nico by his collar.

"Really, Luke?" she asked.

"You think I'll let this nerd off without a little threat, now did yeah?" Luke shot back.

Thalia rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"I thought you said you were going to try and be nice. Thought Jason got through to you, but I guess not," she shrugged, almost like admitting defeat. Nico thought this girl was going to be his saving grace, but it appeared he thought wrong.

The bell rung: the signal the start of class. Luke seemed to have a change of heart and loosened his grip slightly. Thalia laughed slightly and started to walk away. In defeat, Luke sighed, but before releasing his death grip, he shoved Nico back against the wall and threatened him before walking off to meet up with Thalia.

Nico was done. He wanted nothing to do with that group and since the gods hate him so much, they had to throw his life into theirs, getting him mixed up in it. They have been nagging him for years. Threats weren't a new thing; names were where it started. The main reason for it was because Nico was so closed out from the world, making the way he was so secretive only another reason they targeted him. The topic of their aggression is usually his number. The way he hides his wrist was what started it. They had thought he was hiding it because of lack of a number present, but nobody had ever seen his wrist after his birthday so they just assumed.

Nico was late to yet another class. Great! This one passed a lot faster than the last one; in and out. He just had to make it through one more class before lunch then after band. Being a band nerd didn't bother him because he loved it. It was the one class were he could escape into his own world and nobody would bat an eye, because everyone else was in theirs.

Bio was simple and easy. Nico loved the class for some reason, it just made sense. He ran into nobody unwanted (except Annabeth, but he sat by her in class and she was pretty chill) and he was completely okay with it. Last half of class was study time. Being beside Annabeth, naturally they became partners.

"Heard Luke got to you on your way to class," she whispered while scribbling down notes from the textbook.

Nico shook his head, "Nah, just met him in the hallway, that's all,"

Annabeth could tell he was lying. She examined him from head to toe then fixed her gaze back to her paper. "Then where did those scratch marks come from? You know, the ones on your collarbone."

Nico tensed. He must have been so scared that he didn't feel it when Luke must have scratched him when gripping his collar. He gave in.

"Alright, I lied. But I do that all the time, so it shouldn't matter."

"Nico," Annabeth hissed in a hushed tone then looked around to make sure she wasn't too loud, "You have to be more careful, at least around him. I don't know why they all have it out for you, but they do, so you have to be more careful, please. I've known you for a long time and I care for you," she paused before pointing to his wrist. "And why won't you tell me about that? You've blocked me out since then and I've been worried."

"Oh, I can just tell how worried you are about me, by the way could you help me out the next time I'm getting beat up?" Nico spat back sarcastically then put his focus back on his homework.

Annabeth remained quiet for a while until she whispered, "Why? Why do you shut everyone out?"

"Oh, well, I don't know, Anna. Maybe I just wanna conceal my problems away till everyone knows my big secret and I run away and sing about! Just let it go, Anna, let it go!" everyone raised an eye when Nico picked up his voice. He calmed down slightly; Annabeth listened and dropped the subject. What Annabeth didn't know is that she and Nico had more connected to the story than what he led on.

…

Lunch was all that stood in the way of Nico and his small piece of heaven. Lunch was never the problem, what was the problem was that it couldn't end fast enough. To be honest, lunch wasn't that bad, he got to hang out with his younger sister, Hazel. She was pretty chill for being a half-sister.

On his way over to Hazel, he got stopped by Luke. He had come back to finish what he had started and Nico knew he was screwed. Following Luke was the rest of the group. Jason to Callie, everyone was there. Nico knew there were a lot of blondes in the group, but it didn't really sink in until they were all standing together there.

Luke had pinned Nico to a wall. Nico tried to stomach his fear, but it seemed to come right back up.

"Oh, well isn't it my old pall, Neeks," Luke spat with a deadly under tone. His eyes seemed almost crazy with the smirk he had plastered on his face.

"Can you just leave me alone, Luke? It's not like I've done anything to you," Nico shot back with whatever fight he could muster.

"Luke, can we just go and eat? You can finish this later," Thalia said plainly.

Luke looked at her and smiled. His eyes still on her, he spoke to Nico, "You see Neeks, that's my girlfriend. And do you know how I met her?" his eyes drifted back on Nico, "First, I met her brother Jason," he pointed to Jason, "Then I turned sixteen," he pointed to his left wrist, "That's when I got a number. Then after Jason's sister turned sixteen," he pointed to Thalia, "she got her number and it matched mine. What's yours Neeks?"

Silence fell on the crowd. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife.

After a couple of seconds of silence, Luke laughed a little to himself then tilted his head and put on an artificial sympathetic look, "Oh wait, you don't have one, do you Neeks?"

Nico found the strength within him to fight back, "I do have a number and it's none of your business what it is."

"Now you've peaked my attention," he raised an eyebrow.

"Alright Luke, let him go," Will said slightly annoyed.

"Hey now, I kinda wanna know what his number is, don't you?" Jason asked politely.

Will just rolled his eyes, crossing his arms across his chest.

As Luke began to pin Nico to the ground to rip off the wrapping he had around his wrist, he spotted Annabeth who looked a mixture of scared and curious. He knew she wanted to know his number, but under his trust.

Just as things were getting intense, Annabeth decided to step in, but only with words.

"That's enough, Luke!"

"Hold on, I'm almost…" he carried his last word until he removed the wrap. "There!" he sounded in joy. "Now let's see what that number is of yours," he raised Nico's wrist which was now limp as he gave up struggling halfway through.

Nico was sitting on the ground avoiding all eye contact from the others. He knew Luke would be aggressive, so he just let him because he knew it was going to happen whether he fought back or not.

Luke was crouched next to Nico when he lifted his forearm into view. When he turned it over, his face became a mixture of shock, curiosity, and amusement. His face changed from multiple emotions rapidly and if Nico wasn't being forced against his will to reveal who he was destined to be with, he would have laughed at it.

When Luke didn't say anything, Jason walked over slightly, but when Luke started shaking his head, laughing just enough to have his shoulders rise and fall, that was when Jason knew something was up.

"What's up, Luke?"

When Jason made his way over, he saw Nico's number, _X._ His face went pale. He got up and walked over to Will.

"What?" Will asked his friend.

Jason patted Will on the back and whispered, "Good luck" then walked away.

"Huh?" Will was really confused.

He made his way over slowly, not sure of what to expect. When he got there, Luke moved out of the way and Nico stood up, face to face with Will. They just stared at each other until Will made the first move.

"May I?" he asked.

"What nice manners," Nico muttered under his breath while turning his head, looking away from Will's gaze.

Will looked down at Nico's wrist and took it in his hands, turning it ever so slightly to see what was there. When he looked, his eyes grew twice in size. He tried to open his mouth and say something, but nothing came out.

"Didn't know you were gay, Solace," Luke joked.

"I'm not, asshole," he shot back.

Will looked back at Nico and swallowed. He seemed nervous.

"Di Angelo, right?" he asked. Nico nodded.

"So you've been hiding this for a year? Why?" he asked again.

Nico shrugged, "Didn't exactly want to get involved with all this, so I stayed away. Not like it was easy to hide such an obvious number, you know?"

Will looked surprised and… hurt?

"Anyway, as you just said, you're not gay and neither am I, so I just stayed away and hid," and with that, Nico walked away from a stunned group of teens.

Nico didn't even make it all the way through lunch before he started to hear people talking about Will finding the other X. Rumours were already starting to popup that weren't even close to true. Some were about a model while others were more true saying it was a boy in the freshman class, but none were true. It wasn't till after lunch that all the rumours settled down and the truth bubbled to the top and people were starting to look at Nico with judgmental eyes.

….

After grabbing his flute (Nico didn't care how unmanly it made him look, he liked the flute), he sat in the section and started tuning. He didn't even make it ten seconds in until the other flute players bombarded him with questions. He just sat there, confused.

"Is it true that you've been hiding your undying love for Will because he could never love you back?" a dark haired girl asked.

"What?" Nico asked.

"Was it that you were secretly dating Annabeth behind Percy's back and you two stopped being friends when you two got your numbers?" said a blonde.

"Wait, no!" Nico answered.

"Is it true you two had a one-night stand after you found out your number and that's why you two ignored each other until now because of it?" a curly haired redhead asked.

"What does that even mean?"

More questions came at him, the next one more crazy than the last. He thought he was screwed until the conductor walked out and told the class to take out _Pavane_. With that, the class began.

…..

Because he got a double class of band today, they played through the five minute brake that was given to switch classes. Their brake was usually given later, most of the time they got it after the song they were playing.

By the time they got their brake, Nico was out of breath. He didn't mind the sound of the song Lord of the Dance (the new one they got), but god was it fast. They had to play in the auditorium because of classes over lapping, so when they went on brake Nico just rested back in his chair, examining the upper stage area. He was about to close his eyes when he spotted a mop of blonde hair at the back entrance. He shot up and ran over, hoping no one is watching him.

When he got to the top, Will was standing there.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Nico shot at him, trying to keep his voice down.

"You guys are good. I liked the last one," he smiled at Nico, leaning on the rail.

"I don't care about what you think. Why are you here?" he asked again.

"'Got English. Double. It sucks. Last part of it is study block, so I'm 'studying'," he quoted.

Nico asked a dumb question, "What are you studying?"

Will looked at him and smiled, "You."

"That's creepy," Nico informed.

"Well, I have a whole year to make up for, you know?"

"God you're weird. What's wrong with you?" Nico asked harshly.

"Nothing really. I just want to get to know the guy I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with," he shot Nico that sunny smile that seemed to light up the room.

Down on the stage, everyone was gathering again to get ready to play. Nico was about to leave, but Will had the same thought. He looked at his watch and scratched the back of his neck and sighed.

"Only told the teacher I'd be gone for a few minutes . Crap!" Will looked at Nico and stopped rubbing the back of his neck and smiled down.

Nico was confused. Everything about this guy was confusing and he wasn't ready to learn about it.

"Better late than never, I guess," Will mumbled then looked Nico dead in the eyes.

"What does that even mea-" he didn't even finish before Will kissed the top of his head, said he had to go and ran off back to class.

By the time Nico got back to his seat, he was beginning to get asked a bunch of questions because apparently they had seen him with Will and he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

"Why do the gods hate me so much?" he asked, wishing he could be saved, and strangely enough, he would even take Luke running in to save him. Was he ever going to live this down?

 _ **Hope you enjoyed it. I already know where I'm heading for this one. Spoil alert, it's gonna be super cheesy so get ready!**_

 _ **Like to say thanks to my editor, Juliana. Thank you for putting up with my shitty grammer and I'd like to say thank you to all of y'all for sticking to the end. THANK YOU!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	2. Chapter 2- Cat's Out of the Bag

_**So it's Canada up here in the north and it's also my cat's birthday, so Happy Birthday Honey and Happy Canada Day! I'll be starting up school again soon so not sure when next update is.**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER: Still don't own these sons of bitches. Tear.**_

The next morning, Nico had given up trying to hide it. Nico, through all the hell that had been thrown his way and all he has done to hide who he was meant to be, had, full forcefully, given up; he was done. It was no point in trying to hide it now, so that morning when he came down stairs without his usual attire, his whole family just stopped and stared.

He had on his usual too-tight jeans covered in rips and tares along with his black converse, but what really surprised his whole family was the black T-shirt he was wearing along with a red and grey flannel, elbow high, but nothing covering his wrist. He did have a tiny black-gold charm bracelet that he got from his sisters a few years back, but other than that, nothing.

"Ummm… well, it's nice to see that you're up, Nico," his mother managed to regain herself. His family nodded in agreement.

Nico managed a half-assed smile to fill in as a reply, but it was so obvious that he was very uncomfortable in his clothes. He sat down between his sisters Hazel and Bianca, keeping his eyes on his plate.

After a few awkward moments of silence with all that could be heard was the sizzling of food on the burner, his sisters looked at each other than down to their brother then to their parents, who looked at each other between the looks from the girls.

Nobody spoke until Bianca took the lead, "Okay Nico, show me now,"

Nico looked back at her confused then took another bite of his pancake that his mother had placed on his plate. He looked at her then to the rest of his family, making his way from one face to another before meeting the view of Bianca once more to give her another confused glance.

"What in the world are you talking about?" he asked, taking a drink from his cup.

"Your arm, stupid," she pointed to his wrist. "News even reached up to the seniors, now show me your arm and let me see if it's true, and it probably is because of the way you're not hiding your wrist. Now show me, now."

Nico put his fork down and sighed, he knew this was coming, but he didn't know it was going to happen so fast. He leaned back in his chair and flipped his wrist, exposing his forearm to his sister who then took it and looked at it. She looked at him then at the arm then back to him. This seemed to go on for what felt like forever before his other sister decided she wanted to see for herself.

Nico showed Hazel his number but continued to eat his pancake with his other free hand. Hazel's eyes became twice their normal size with her mouth following by dropping open. She looked at him with a giddy-like look in her eyes when she put two and two together.

"Don't you dare say a word or I swear to god I will kill you," he threatened, but Hazel didn't care, she just couldn't shake off the thought on how cute they would be together.

Of course, his parents had no clue what was going on and decided they wanted answers. Nico had hidden his number even to his parents, so even they didn't know. Of course, they did pester him the morning of and the week after, but they soon stopped when they saw how he had changed. He went from happy-go-lucky to looking like his life was over. They were worried and did try to talk to him, but he started to shut everyone out and say he was "okay" with a fake smile, but nobody believed it.

"So, what's with the sudden change of heart in the clothes department?" his mother asked.

Nico gave his sisters the death glare, but they ignored him.

"Nico got exposed for having the same number as a popular person at school and everyone found out," Bianca told.

"Well that's nice," his mother added.

"Is she hot?" his dad asked, trying to add to the conversation. When he saw the looks from the girls and the way Nico glared at him, he replied with a simple, "What?"

"You could say that," Hazel added. By now, both of their parents looked confused.

"Just drop it guys," Nico spat.

But neither of the girls were going to back down, they were having way to much fun messing with their brother. Their parents were going to find out sooner or later, so why not sooner?

"Why? We're having way too much fun with this," Bianca said, giggling.

"Yeah, and now he's just given up because everyone at school now knows about it," Hazel pointed out.

"Well, do we get to meet her?" his mother asked.

"If you want to meet her, I don't suggest getting your hopes up," said Bianca

"Why not?"

"Because you can't meet her, _she_ doesn't exist," Hazel pitched in.

Both parents were really confused by now. What did they mean by she doesn't exist? There were things that just weren't adding up.

Nico got up from his chair and stormed over to the sink where he put his dirty dishes. He looked as if he was about to pick up the butter knife sitting on the edge of the sink and was going to use it to murder them.

"Drop it, now," Nico said with his voice dripping with venom.

His sisters looked at him, debating whether or not to continue with this topic of conversation. They decided if they were going to die, they were going to go down screaming and this was the perfect topic to go down for.

"Now I want answers," his mother told him.

Both girls looked at one another once more before bursting out in a smile and started talking, "Well…" Hazel started.

"Don't you dare," Nico added, but the girls didn't listen.

"His name is Will Solace," Bianca blurted out.

"And he's, like, crazy hot," Hazel added dreamily.

Nico threw his hands up in the air in defeat and headed to the fridge.

"Now I'm interested," said his mother, leaning forward.

Hazel moved over to the seat where Nico had just been sitting so their mother could sit next to them. Their father joined the conversation by leaning up against the ledge of the counter which the girls were sitting on the other side of.

"And he's blonde," both girls added at the same time.

Both girls and their mother squealed at the thought of their dark, isolated boy with a cheery, popular blonde boy. The thought made them smile widely.

"I'm still blank on a picture here," said their dad.

"You know the Graces right? Well, its Jason's cousin, Will."

"Al's boy? Their youngest?" he asked. Both girls nodded in agreement.

"Well, too bad for you 'cause I'm not into him, so you guys can give up on your little fantasy 'cause I'm not joining it, got it?" Nico yelled as he slammed the door of the fridge and opened a bottle of water. He stormed out of the room and headed to his bedroom. While the girls and their parents still had the conversation down stairs, Nico got ready for school by packing up his bag.

"He's just in denial. They will be the cutest couple ever! I can tell," Bianca said confidently while Hazel nodded.

…

Nico started to regret the choice of coming to school because of the way everyone was looking at him. The looks he got from people were all different, some people were whispering about whether or not it was him while some other people were debating whether or not he was worthy, but a good amount of them were whispering about how cute they would look together. So many people had different views on the whole pairing of the two boys that asking just one person, or even a whole group, could not give you the majority answer.

When he arrived at his locker, he wished he would have brought a sweater, not because he was cold or because he wanted to hide his wrist, but because he wanted to hide himself from the world and from the eyes glued on him.

He picked up his textbooks and made his way to first block class, English. It was a double block today so he wouldn't have to walk through the hall as much during the first half.

When he came into class, he put his head on the desk and surrounded it by his arms. He listened to the chatter from everyone within the room, catching some conversations of people outside the room as they passed by. He wasn't surprised when two girls walked up to him in class, all giggly, and asked him if the rumours were true and he was the partner of Will Solace. He continued to ignore them, but he realized they wouldn't go away until he did as they asked. He showed them his wrist without raising his head from the table. He put his arm back underneath his head and continued to block out the world.

When the teacher entered the class, he completely zoned out. The rest of class went by like a blur with a mixture of Shakespearian and bad acting. While listening to the love story about a thirteen year old and a what-seventeen year old?-that ended with six deaths and didn't it only last, like three days? But, while he was listening to it, he fell into a daydream-like slumber because one minute he is judging the acting of his class and the next minute he is having a messed up dream about Will telling him he is like the sun. He didn't understand any of it, but something inside of him felt like it was melting.

He awoke from his 'fantasy' when the teacher asked him to do the next part. He struggled through the lines but made it out once again. He couldn't wait any longer for this unit to be over, he just wanted to get this book done and over with.

….

If someone didn't know about Nico and Will before, well they sure did now. By now, everyone that was anyone was talking about the whole Will and Nico fiasco. First off, Will had always been into girls, and as far as anyone else knows, so did Nico, and because of the fact that Will went without a match for almost two years, and the fact that he was so popular, caused the interest in the people to rise as well.

Nico could barely make it to his next class without being bombarded with questions from people. The most popular one was, "Why did you wait so long?"

He breezed by his next class without any interruptions because he made sure he got there late so the teacher was just about to lock him out.

The last thing he needed now was to get through lunch without being caught, and how he was going to do that, was beyond him. He hadn't seen Will all day and that was a good sign for him. Without a sign meant that he might not be here today and he would have one more day of sanity before he had to come to terms fully with reality. This dream was quickly destroyed when he ran into him at his locker, well sort of…

"Hey," Will said, leaning against the locker beside his, so when Nico closed his locker once he got his lunch, he was greeted with a surprise.

"Oh gods," Nico put his free hand over his chest, breathing really fast, "Don't ever do that again."

"Sorry, but I wanted to see you," Will apologized.

"That's creepy," Nico said flatly.

"No, it's caring."

"I don't need your love and support. Just leave me alone, please," Nico started to walk away from his locker where Will still stood with a hurt look on his face.

Will ran up and caught up with him; Will walked beside the younger boy for a few moments. All eyes were on them as they made their way to the lunch room.

Nico stopped a few feet down the pair of stairs they had to take and looked up at Will. Yeah, he was good looking, but that didn't mean anything. Nico wasn't into him, so he didn't want anything to do with him.

"What do you want?!" Nico shot at the blonde who looked back with a confused look. "You show up here all, 'I might have ignored you for all of high school and may have let my friends beat you up, but now because we are destined to be together, we have to spend every waking moment together.' It's just plain creepy and weird and I don't want anything to do with you, that's why I never told anyone all this time, don't you get it?"

"Give me a chance," Will pleaded, looking down on the boy who, even though he spent his whole life in the darkness, looked like he was shining. Will never thought he had a thing for this boy, let alone any boy, but because fate told him it would be spent with him, he was starting to think it wouldn't seem all that bad if he did have to be with him. But, you know, in a non-gay way, you know?

"Why the hell would I give you a chance?" Nico asked sarcastically.

"Because I haven't given you one and I want to, but to do that, you need to give me a chance and I really want you to give me a chance, so, please?" he asked, almost bagging. Nico just stared at him with a straight face, arms crossed. "What? Come on~! I swear it will be fun, just trust me. If you don't enjoy yourself or at the very least you don't even have a lick of fun, I'll lie off, but at least give me and all of this"-he pointed to himself-"a try."

Nico contemplated what Will had just asked and he was just about to answer when his English teacher called to him from the bottom of the stairs. Both Will and Nico looked down at her before Nico made his way, ignoring Will for the moment.

"Nico, I would like to discuss your current English mark," his English teacher spoke quietly so nobody around them would hear, but just enough that he could.

"It has come to my attention that you are currently falling behind in your grades and I've become quite worried about where your future is headed," her and Nico started to walk down the hall. "I have an idea that, if you agree to, would raise your mark a great deal."

Nico listened to her plan, but quickly turned it down. She kept telling him that it would be for the best, but Nico kept shaking his head. What she had in mind was crazy and he would never do it, right?

By the end of the discussion, she had convinced Nico to do the unthinkable. He would never tell anyone about this, but it was for his mark so it shouldn't be so bad, right? Right…?

…

"So, how's the popularity treating you?" his sister, Hazel, asked while she ate a sandwich next to her boyfriend, Frank.

"I hate it, it sucks ass," he replied, taking a bite of his apple.

Hazel started to giggle in her innocent way. Nico soon realized what he said and pushed her gently, "God, be mature.

"I can't, you two are just so cute, and I can't help it."

"So, anything new happen? You know, 'cause last time I didn't ask and apparently it's all you and Will, so you can see where I'm coming from," she asked.

"Nothing much, just, Will asked me on the date," he replied nonchalantly while taking another bite of food.

Hazel almost choked on her sandwich when she heard this. She looked at him with big eyes and just stared.

"What?" Nico asked.

"And what did you say?!"

"I didn't tell him anything. I got called away before I could reply to him."

Hazel was about to kill her brother for ignoring one of the hottest guys at school. Like, how could you say no to him? Hazel knew she had a lot to teach him about love and whether he liked it or not, he was going to learn.

"Well, go tell him right now that you are going on that date," she demanded.

Nico just looked at her with a raised brow. "I'm not going to do that, stupid."

"Yes you are, and you are going to do it now, like as in, NOW now. Do it right now or I'm going to go get Bianca and she'll definitely make you go and say yes."

Nico rolled his eyes and continued on eating. He was glad that they ate under the stairs because nobody could hear them talk under there.

As Nico continued to stall, Hazel began to become impatient with her older brother. She swatted him upside his head when he refused to move. He complained about it hurting, but all hazel said was that he should go and get Will to kiss it better. That really made him pissed, yet extremely red in the face, and Hazel found that extremely adorable. God, why couldn't Nico see how cute he was, Hazel would never know.

Nico rolled his eyes, sighed, then made his way upstairs to get ready for his next class. On his way to his locker, he ran into Will, Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth. He froze for a few seconds before regaining himself. He looked up at Will and thought, ' _What the hell_?'

"Yes," was all Nico said.

Will looked at him confused for a few seconds.

"Huh?"

"My answer to your question is yes. I will give you one chance, so don't blow it Solace, one date; one chance. That's all you get," and with that, Nico brushed passed him, ignoring the confused looks from Will's friends and the giggles coming from the girls.

It was just one date, what could possibly go wrong?

 _ **Looks like another one's done and out of the way. Yay!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	3. Chapter 3- Run Run As Fast As You Can

_**Almost done school, only a week left until I'm fully free! I got a comment about the way Bianca and Hazel treat Nico in the last chapter and I can see where it's coming from about them being a bit much, but the relationship I wrote them to have was one I based off of my own relationship with my little brother and sister. It's one where the sisters heckle the brother countless of times and may seem to push them too much, but at the end of the day, they all love each other and can forgive one another.**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER: I think the only way of gaining full control over these characters is to take over the world and then I shall own them. It's the only way.**_

"So, where are you guys going?" Annabeth asked during class. Nico had somehow managed to get into science class without being hunted down, but he couldn't escape one person: Annabeth. He knew replying to Will in front of his friends, especially Annabeth, was going to be a bad idea, but Nico stopped caring about people when he was found out, so what the hell? Why not?

"Dunno," he replied blankly, looking at his homework.

"What are you gonna wear?" Annabeth pestered him.

"Don't care," he was starting to sound irritated.

"How can you not care? Nico, it's your first date, you have to look nice," Annabeth poked at him.

Nico looked around, making sure nobody was listening in on them, "I don't care what it is, I barely said yes to begin with, so it shouldn't matter how much effort I put in because I don't care."

"Well then, I guess I have to call up Reyna and get her to come over and help pin you to the ground so we can make you purrdy," Annabeth purred.

Nico stayed quiet. If Annabeth told Reyna about this, then he would surely be screwed. Out of everyone that Nico knew, Reyna was one of the few people that could convince him to jump off a bridge, and if she was to show up for this, he might as well prepare himself for a full on dress.

"Don't you dare."

"Oh, I would."

The both of them just stared at each other, challenging the other to back down. They only broke away because the teacher had called on them to be quiet.

"I'm calling her," Annabeth added quickly before putting her face back in her text book. Nico was about to yell at her when the teacher looked up at Nico and he calmed down. Annabeth started to snicker when she peered over and saw the look on Nico's face.

….

The rest of the day went by smoothly; band class went by without a hit, even with the usual questions from the girls, Nico even got a solo in band, which he nailed perfectly, Nico was in nerd heaven once again. But of course, all good things had to end. Nico had to meet with his English teacher and help her on something. He knew basically what he was going to do, but what he didn't expect was what was needed of him and what that inclined.

"Why, hello Mr. di Angelo, nice to see you," his teacher said when he entered her room.

"So, what is fully needed of me?" he asked, crossed his arms.

"Here," his teacher handed him a book. "All the parts are already highlighted, so all you have to do is memorize what is written."

The one thing Nico never wanted to do was theatre, and here he is, for extra credits, was filling in for one of the leads because he was barely passing his English class.

He looked over the script and sighed.

"You sure you can do it? The play is in less than two weeks and you haven't even looked at the script until now," his teacher sighed and placed her hand on her cheek, "I can hardly believe that our lead's father blew up their couch that destroyed their house, so now he has to live with his aunt in the other town. So unfortunate," she stared at the ground with a sad look in her eyes, than she looked up at Nico, smiled and sat down in the desk beside her, Nico did the same.

"Can you tell me a little about the play?" he asked her.

"Well, it was written by a student due to our lack of funding in the drama department, so it was free to get our hands on. The part is pretty simple and it matches your personality so you shouldn't have much problem with it, no matter your skill level.

"It's really about two guys, Ash and Faven, who get caught up a FBI investigation and help solve a murder; your character's name is Faven and he's more of a doom-and-gloom type of character. There's not really much to say about him that isn't obvious in the script."

Nico just stared at his teacher. "What?"

"I know, I know. It might not sound like much, but it has its high points. Just look over the script and come to practice tonight, and just because of this, we'll have practice almost every night, so you better get on that," his teacher patted his back, got up, and told him to follow her to practice.

Nico picked up the script from off the desk and made his way after her.

….

When he came into the room, there was a bunch of teenagers running around the stage, throwing things at each other, yelling and swearing comments than laughing at each other when throwing the next. There were some people singing whatever the next hit song was badly, probably on purpose though, and some dudes on their phones, showing the each other a video. The moment Nico walking in there, he knew he didn't belong.

When the teacher entered the room, one of the students yelled, "Mrs. A's here guys."

Everyone started packing up what they were doing and sat in the front row of the seats in the audience.

"Hello everyone and thank you for doing this on short notice," she said, making her way down the stairs and then standing in front of the crowd of students.

"Yeah, short notice my ass. I blame Leo and his crazy family for doing all this to us. I had to cancel my date for this!" yelled a boy with dark hair.

"Well, yes, we did have to improvise for a short while, but I think I found a solution for this- where the hell is that boy?!" Mrs. A yelled while looking around furiously.

"Where do you think he is?" asked a blonde girl, everybody snickered

Mrs. A sighed and placed her hand to her forehead. "I swear, what are we going to do with that boy? If he shows up late one more time I swear I'm going to-"

The Mrs. A was interrupted when a blonde hair boy came running in to the theatre from the side doors.

"I'm so sorry I'm late! You see, my science teacher needed to talk and-" he ranted as he placed his bag into an empty seat. He was shushed by a blonde hair girl putting her fingers to his lips and giving his a look that showed how done she was. He smiled then sat down and listened to the teacher.

The closer Nico looked, he realised the blonde boy was Will. His stomach dropped and he was starting to regret his choice already, and he thought that feeling would come up when he started to go through his lines, not before he even started.

"So, as I was saying," she started, "we have a replacement for Leo and he has agreed to help us in our hour of need."

Everyone started talking to each other, wondering who their saviour was. When the room finally quieted down, Mrs. A told everyone who it was.

"Come here boy," she said, waving for Nico to come down. Everyone turned in unison to look at Nico as he slowly made his way down the stairs.

He looked at all the faces as he made his way, looking at each and every one of them, one at a time. He heard a few giggles from some of the girls and some of the guys raised their brows at him, smiling slightly, shaking their head while whispering back and forth to one another.

When Nico reached the bottom of stairs, he stood by the teacher like a scared little kitten. If he didn't have practice of playing it cool for all those years, he would have been shaking, maybe even pissing his pants.

"Nico has agreed to play our Faven, so, as you guys know, we will be having practice almost every night until opening night so that everyone can get into the new feel. Extra practice will be necessary to people within the scene that Faven is in and all practices will be mandatory for the first few nights so Nico can see how the play runs, okay?"

Everyone sighed, but agreed.

"I still blame Leo for this," the dark hair kid yelled again. A dark skinned girl slapped him upside his head, making the entire room laugh at him.

Nico shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. He looked around the room, going from the door to the people to the ceiling. He started rocking on his toes then looking at the crowd.

"Hi," was all he could say.

After a few moments of awkward silence, the teacher clapped her hands. "Well, let's get started, shall we?"

The cast got up and started setting up for the first scene. Once everything was set up, Nico flipped through the pages of the first scene, trying to get a sense of what was going on. He skimmed it, looking over the notes left in by Leo, the original Faven.

The first scene was simple. It was just the introduction of the characters; you meet Faven (and when they say he's the main character, they weren't kidding, dude was in almost every scene) and Ash. Ash was played by Will. Great!

The main concept of the first scene was show how the two characters got intertwined in the conflict and how they ended up in the same place at the same time. Nico was struggling to keep up with the actors because they were all off book and they knew how the scene worked almost like the back of their hands. He often struggled and stuttered through his lines, making the other actors laugh at him. He was not having fun, but he needed to do this.

Once the first scene was done, they set up for the next one. The second scene was the two characters meet for the first time and get tangled up with the FBI; simple.

The rest of the scenes went by easier than expected. Exposition and filler were mixed in the scenes. New characters were introduced such as Lily-Ash's best friend, two brothers-Dan and Kyle, played by the twins, and smaller characters like Kory, Mary, and Maya. The other actors helped Nico out, probably because they didn't want all the hours they put into this play go to waste.

The main jest of the play was that two guys meet each other and bromance their way around to solve crime. Damn fangirls. But it was really well written; Nico had to give it credit there. Nico was really starting to get into character until the scene where Faven and Ash (Nico and Will) started flirting with each other while trying to figure out what to do next. Because of the fact that Nico had to look at his book to read the lines, he missed the look that Will was giving him during that scene.

Nico was pretending to look through fake documents, trying to figure out who the bad guy was working for. He had his script in the documents so he wouldn't have to look back and forth from script to document to Will.

"I think they are in this way deeper than they let on," he shifted through the papers, picking up and putting down different bunches of paper. "I think he is working for another boss besides Kory. I'm thinking it's… I don't know, but still, if he was working for Kory, you'd think at least some of the clues would point to her."

Nico started to rub his forehead while setting down the stack of papers on the desk.

Will walked over to Nico and wrapped his arms around Nico from behind. He picked up some of the papers, looking over Faven's 'notes'. He set down on of the papers in front of Nico, still having one arm wrapped around Nico.

He pointed to a section on the paper, "There, if what you're saying is true, right here should be the best lead we have."

Nico picked up the paper and scanned it over once, than a second time before grabbing a few other papers and moving over to the other table that was set up down stage right. He yelled at Will to grab a few other ones and bring them over and he started to move the papers around on the table. He grabbed the ones from Will roughly and slammed them down on the table with a slam! He stepped back and admired his work. Will walked up behind him and looked over his shoulder. Nico's character was so overjoyed at Will's character for helping him piece together the missing clues that he jumped him in a giant hug.

The audience of other actors had been silent because of the sheer shock of how well of an actor Nico was and the chemistry between the two actors made it seem natural, but when Nico jumped Will-as written in the script-, the whole audience cooed at how cute they were.

They stayed like that for some time until Nico met Will's glance and they looked at each other, eye to eye. Nico looked down at the ground and Will slowly let go of his grip on Nico and let the younger boy slowly walk away. Nico grabbed his script from off the table and looked at the audience.

The cast looked at them with mouths wide open. Mrs. A stood up and started clapping her hands.

"This, my friends, is going to be one amazing play," and with that, the cast slowly got up and started to put the props away.

Nico started rubbing the back of his neck, looking at Will for only a slit second, than smiled at the girls who came up to him and told him he was amazing. Once the clean-up was done, he quickly his bag and dashed out of the school as fast as possible, script in hand.

…

When he reached his house, he opened the front door and went inside. He slammed his things on the counter and went up to his room to look over the script. After almost an hour, he sister, Bianca, came by and knocked on his door. He looked up as she walked in and sat beside him on his bed. He raised his feet so she could sit at the end.

"What you got there?" she asked him, pointing that his script.

He turned it so he could see the front, shrugged, and went back to reading.

Bianca squinted her eyes to see what he was reading then gasped, "Oh my gods! Is that the script for this year's play? Nico! Why didn't you tell me you were in it?!"

"I didn't tell you because I wasn't in it, until now," he said flatly. "The main guy had to quit because his dad blew up their house or something and- I AM NOT DOING THIS PLAY!" Nico yelled and shoved the book down.

His sister looked at him funny. "Why?"

"Because this is not what I signed up for," he pointed to the book.

Bianca picked it up and rummaged through it. "I don't see the problem."

"I don't mind the story and I can borderline deal with the characters, but I'm not playing _that_ character," he protested, pouting.

"What's wrong with your character? Now you have to tell me all about this," Bianca said, pestering him.

"Well, the character itself isn't bad, but…" his voice trailed off. "The story is basically about two guys bromancing their way around, trying to solve this murder case or something… But this, I can't do it! I am not kissing Will."

Bianca just stared her brother with her mouth wide open. She was speechless. She opened the book and flipped threw it until she came to one of the last scenes were, as her brother said, the two characters kiss.

"That's so cute! You and Will kissin- Wait, why are you kissing Will?!" Bianca was really confused.

"Because! Apparently Will has a thing for theatre and I just happen to find that out in the worse way!"

Nico was full on pouting by now, scowling and everything. Bianca couldn't help but think her little brother was the cutest thing around when tried to be, or in this case, not trying.

Nico took the book back from Bianca and looked at the cover. "Who the hell is R.E. Dare? I now personally don't like this R.E. Dare."

"R.E. Dare? Ohhh, I know who that is! That's Rachael Elizabeth Dare. She's in my War History class."

Nico just looked at her. "War History class?"

"It's, it's a class," she shrugged. "But anyway, yeah I know her; didn't know she wrote the play, though."

They sat in silence until Bianca spoke, "Annabeth called me a little while ago, that's why I came in."

Nico looked up at his sister, his eyebrows knitted together. Where was she going with this?

"And she told me something I thought my own little brother would have told me, not her. I heard you're going on your first date with Will soon."

"That little-"

"Watch your language, Nico," Bianca scolded him.

He was about to protest when she continued on with her lecture, "So, I took the liberty of calling up an old friend of ours and she told me to just give her the call and she'll be here before you could say-"

"Reyna!" Nico scowled.

"Exactly! Look, you're learning," she said cheerfully.

"Why you little-"

"Really Nico, didn't we just go over this?" Bianca poked him. "So, when is it?"

"Dunno, we didn't set a time or a place, he just bagged me to go out at least once with him."

"Well, get on that," and with that, Bianca winked and left her brothers room. He just watched as she walked out, leaving him slightly mad and confused. What were the two girls planning to do? Nico really didn't want to know what the answer was and he didn't want to go looking for them.

 _ **Anybody else having a problem with their reviews not coming up on their account but showing up in their email? Anybody? Just me? Thank you to the 14 people that love and support me on this crazy idea I wrote at 1 in the morning while I should have studied for my final (Just so you know, I passed so it wasn't all that bad). Thank you to my editor for putting up with my bullshit just like the rest of you, but only before all the grammar fixes. I believe that with your help, we can take over the world and start the fangirl revolution. But to be serious, thank you all for putting up with my bullshit and sticking around. Love you all!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	4. Chapter 4- I Ship Ashen!

_**So it's almost two in the morning and I'm currently on holidays and staying with my cousins. After watching 50% religiously for an hour with my cousin, we hit up some Love Stage! and are now probably going to be sleep deprived. Happy summer everyone!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Still working on plans to kidnap the rights to these characters. Might start up a kick-starter.**_

When Nico slammed his locker shut he almost had a heart attack. He was not expecting to see a certain blonde standing behind the door. He tried to catch his breath, but being scared half-to-death wasn't an easy thing to recover from.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled once he found his voice.

"Why didn't you tell me you were our fill in? Was that what Mrs. A wanted to talk to you about on the stairs?" Will asked with a dopey smile.

"Are you stalking me?"

"I was wondering what time would work best for our date," Will continued, completely ignoring Nico at this point. "I was thinking that, if you weren't so busy on, say, maybe Saturday, that I could take you out that night?"

Nico completely gave up trying to change the topic due to his multiply failed attempts of trying to interrupt Will.

"Sure, whatever," Nico waved off, "But what I'm trying to say is that I-"

"Great! I'll swing by around six on Saturday and pick you up," he said cheerfully. Jason came down the hall and hit Will upside his head and Will started yelling back to him. He looked down at Nico, still smiling from his kerfuffle with Jason, ruffled Nico's hair, and kissed him quickly on the top of his head before running off after Jason, who you could hear from all the way down the hall.

Nico sunk back onto his locker and sighed. He fixed his hair and wiped his forehead. He was just about to leave his locker when Piper popped up.

Piper seemed out of breath when she arrived at his locker.

"Have you seen Jason? You can hear him throughout the school so it's hard to pinpoint the exact location of him," she said out of breath.

"Ummm, yeah, just down the hall. He just ran off with Will," he replied sheepish.

Piper came over and leaned onto the locker next to Nico's. Piper always seemed like a nice girl by the way Annabeth talked about her. She seemed to be the type of girl that would be full of herself, but the way Annabeth talks about her, she seems almost like Mother Theresa. Piper was a pretty girl, even without trying. Her eyes seemed to change colour with every glance and her hair was choppy yet it had a simple grace about it.

"God, can they be anymore immature?" she asked with a joking undertone in her voice.

"I guess…"

Piper looked at Nico with a slight lopsided smile. "Lighten up. You know, I've heard a lot about you from Annabeth. I didn't know you two were such good friends."

"I've known her for a while, nothing to go writing home about."

"You should hang out with us," she stood in front of Nico and poked his nose.

Nico looked at her in utter confusion. Why was she trying to be so nice to him; Nico wasn't used to people wanting to be friends, everybody usually just stayed away from him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you're adorable," she said, ruffling his hair. She started playing with it while she spoke. "And it's a little known fact that I just adore cute things," she added with a wink.

"I'm not cute," he scowled, swatting away her hand.

She smiled at him, laughing a little while at it. "It's so cute how you don't know that your adorable, which makes you even more adorable."

"I told you, I'm not cute!" he yelled back with his face redder than an apple. Piper couldn't help but laugh at him.

"Yes you are," Jason said running up behind Piper, hugging and kissing her on her cheek. He kept his arms wrapped around her, rocking her back and forth. "Hey babe," he told Piper who replied back with a simple 'Hi'.

"I think you are super adorable," a voice came from behind, and before Nico could turn around to see who it was, Will wrapped his arms around Nico, picked him up and spun him. Nico squealed, his voice cracking a few times, kicking and flailing.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Nico yelled. "Let go of me!"

Will didn't let go of him, but he did put him back on the ground. Nico tried to get away, but Will was too strong, he held on so tight Nico thought he was going to suffocate.

"Nah, rather not," Will purred.

"What is your problem?!" Nico's voice kept cracking as he talked, well, _squealed_.

"What problem?" he squeezed him again, rocking him back and forth, resting his chin beside Nico's neck.

Jason and Piper were watching them, laughing extremely hard. The sight of Will constricting Nico was super adorable-at least from Piper's point of view (later when Piper told this story to Annabeth, she agreed with her). Nico was at least a foot shorter than Will and half his size in muscle mass. If one didn't know any better, it would seem like a typical big brother little brother relationship.

"There can't be anything wrong with me, not when I'm with you," Will said, squeezing Nico once again. The younger boy squirmed and tried to wiggle his way out, but the blonde refused to let go. While Will had a hold of Nico, he stopped flailing the boy around gently, and leaned down into his ear. Just loud enough for Nico, Jason, and Piper to hear, he whispered gently, "But there might be one problem, I might be falling in love with you."

Will let his grip loosen, and Nico took advantage of it. He pushed and jumped away, his face burning. Piper walked away from Jason and put her arms around the bright red boy and hugged him. He felt like he wanted to curl up into a ball and die.

When the bell sounded for class, Nico picked up his things from off the ground and ran off to his first class. When he got into Mrs. A's English class, his face was still bright red. He slammed his books and head on the table. This wasn't how his life was supposed to go, he was supposed to have a normal high school experience and he was supposed to have a pretty girl with the same number. He wasn't supposed to be pushed around until some dude rolls around and finds out that they're ' _meant to be_ ' because they weren't. Even though they shared a number, they weren't… right? They couldn't be, could they? This is not how Nico pictured his life to be at all.

…

After school was the second practice for the play and things were going great! Well, sort of. It started out like always, or so Nico thought; he hadn't exactly been to a practice before, so when the girls started trying to befriend him, he just went along with it. He found out some information about the part that he hadn't know before, the girls were really helpful.

"It's so nice of you to help us out in our time of need."

"Yeah, you're the best!"

Nico laughed awkwardly as the girls around him spoke; they seemed kind of weird, but nice.

"So, real talk," a brunette spoke. "You and Will, it's true, right? You know, the day the rumours started flying around, he was acting pretty strange, so we all figured something about them was true, but you? We would have never suspected; no offence."

Nico just sat there looking at the girl. He knew he was nothing special, but to hear people say it was a different story.

"So, can we see it? You know, the number; your wrist."

Nodding his head, he flipped his forearm upwards and shook his wrist to remove the bracelet from overtop of the marking. The girls looked at it with awe. If Nico didn't know any better, by the way they were looking at it, you'd guess that they had never seen a wrist before. Girls poked and giggled at each other, looking at one another then at Nico's wrist.

"Wow."

"That's so cool."

"I ship it."

"You two are so cute together."

"Did you see how they acted together? It was like they were meant to be!"

"Idiot! They are meant to be."

Nico was looking at the girls; they were talking about him like he wasn't even there. They started cooing and awing over him and it was starting to make him the slightest bit uncomfortable. He tried to slip away, but the girls wouldn't have it that way. They held him down with brute force, damn these girls were strong!

"Alright, time to get started!" thank god-or more accurately-Mrs. A broke the uncomfortable conversation he was having with the girls. "We are going to start from where we left off."

The girls broke off their conversation and started to set up for the scene. Nico was able to slip away before running into a Will Solace who was late-once again-causing Nico to fall over. Right before Nico was about to hit the floor, Will was able to catch him with his free arm because the other was holding a bottle of pop.

Nico stared at Will, who was looking at him directly in the eyes. Nico's heart began to race looking into his endless pools. Will slowly brought Nico back to his feet, never braking contact. Nico was helpless in the older man's arms; all he could do now was hope and pray he wasn't shaking too badly, at least not enough for Will to feel.

When Nico came too, he pushed Will away. Will watched as Nico walked away and got ready for the scene. He set his pop down and got ready next to Nico.

…

They had made it to one of the last scenes with everything going good. Nico was able to memorize some of his lines from time to time, so the scenes felt a little more real.

The scene they had just finished was where they had just brought down Carmen, a drug lord who hired someone to kill Kory, the guy who died and started the whole story in the first place. Nico's character, Faven, had just left the scene when Lily, played by Will's little sister, Kayla, had just entered the scene to talk with Ash/Will, one-on-one.

"Can't believe you guys just did that," Kayla said.

"Well, Faven did most of the work; he's the brains of this whole operation. The piecing together the information that connected Kory to Carmen was thanks to Faven figuring it out," Will said with longing in his voice. "You know, the way people talk about him is all wrong."

"Is this why you've been ignoring me?" she asked, walking over to where Will was standing and placing her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, it's not the easiest to keep up your usual life when you're trying to bring down a drug lord," he laughed slightly.

Kayla shook her head with a slight smile plastered on her face. "That's not what I mean, Ash"

"Then, what is it that you're talking about?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Do I have to say or are you a smart enough boy to figure it out?" she asked with a smug look on her face.

"I don't have a clue," he said plainly.

"God, what does he see in you?" she muttered to herself before sighing and turning towards Will. "Okay, I'm going to spell it out for you; Faven, the way you act around him, when are you going to tell him?"

"Tell him what?" he asked.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me that you're that oblivious," she said with aggression, walking right up to his face. "You're not allowed to tell me that you've been around him for this long with those googly eyes and you haven't noticed the way you feel about him? Dude, it's clear as day and I've only ever been around you lately for a few moments at max and even I can tell. Why can't you just see it for yourself?" she raised her voice.

"Feel? What are you talking about?" Will walked away from Kayla, shaking his head; looking back at her, he said, "How crazy do you have to be to think I'm into Faven? I didn't even know the guy until a few weeks ago, and now here you are, trying to tell me I have, what, a crush on a guy I just met? You, my friend, are the crazy one."

Will headed over to where his bag was and started ruffling through it. He started to pull things out, then put them back in. Kayla walked over, sighing, never turning her back to the audience, and stood beside him.

"You're not fooling anyone here, you know that?" she said while crossing her arms.

Will stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her. They stared at each other, forcing the other to break first.

Will stood up and faced Kayla. "What do you want me to say?" he said seriously.

"I want you to stop lying to yourself and say the truth for once!"

"You want the truth? Fine! I'll tell you the god damn truth, yes! Yes to the fact I haven't been one hundred present honest, and yes, maybe I don't want to admit that I have feelings for him because, you know what, it is kind of weird for a straight guy to have a crush on another straight guy after only knowing the other dude for barely a few days!" by the time Will finished his scripted rant, he was out of breath.

The emotion Will was able to put in his character was amazing. Every voice crack and every twitch of his lip added to the show, and it was more than incredible. Once he was done, even Kayla had to take a step back. When she was able to regain herself, she found her character again and had a smug smile painted on her face.

"There it is," she said solemnly. "That's what I've been dying to hear."

Kayla walked up to Will, who was still out of breath, and hugged him. She stood there with her arms around him for a moment before Will returned the favour and wrapped his arms around her.

Kayla got on her tip-toes, and whispered into his ears, "Now go tell him that."

Nico walked on stage and saw them hugging. As scripted, Will kissed his sisters character on the cheek. Nico backed up and ran off stage; a short cameo, but it got the job done.

When they broke the hug, Will thanked her for all of her help and ran off, grabbing his bag before ditching the girl in the empty street.

The next scene was between Ash and Faven, so Nico got ready, script in hand. This scene called for him to be packing his bag aggressively, so he did just that. When the teacher called for silence to signal the next scene was starting, Will ran on.

"Faven!" he called, apportioning the younger.

Faven continued to ignore Ash while aggressively organizing his bag.

"Hey, Faven!" he called again.

Nico looked up with a scowl on his face. Will stepped back when the dark haired boy looked at him. His face was filled with anger.

"Hey, dude, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Nico muttered just loud enough to be heard.

"Faven? Are you okay?" Will walked up to the younger slowly, placing his hand gently on his shoulder, but Nico shook it off.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not, what's wrong?"

"Why the hell do you want to know?" he yelled back, standing up to face Will.

"Because I thought we were friends and I'm worried about you," he replied caringly. The look in Will's eyes was full of concern.

"Well, we aren't. And you wanna know why? It's because we were only forced together to do this, not because we actually liked each other!" he spat with venom.

Will was taken back, not just because it was in the script, but because it felt like Nico meant it.

"Yeah, at first we weren't friends, but now we are," Will's voice darkened.

"No we aren't. After today, you're going to go back to your popular friends," he went back down to his bag and started furiously rummaging through it again. "You even get to start hanging out with your girlfriend again," he mumbled.

"You don't get to decide what I do and if I- wait, did you say girlfriend?" Will asked. "Is this what this is all about?"

Nico didn't reply.

"Faven, I don't have a girlfriend," she said softly.

"Then what about Lily?" even though his voice was soft, it still sounded poisonous.

"Lily? She's my best friend, not my girlfriend," he said with a smile; Will started to laugh a little. "Between you and me, I think she has a thing for Caz.

"Well, I still don't care," he picked up his backpack and started to leave.

Will grabbed his hand before he could get too far.

"I care, you know… if that helps a little," Will's voice was soft and caring.

"Why?" Nico asked almost too quiet to hear.

"Because I…" Ash couldn't finish the sentence; Will couldn't finish the sentence.

"What? You what?!" Nico turned around, his voice full of hostility; Will could feel holes being burned into him with the gaze that Nico was giving him.

They stayed like that, staring at each other for quite some time, neither one giving an inch to the other. Will still had a strong hold on Nico's wrist and refused to let go.

What happened next confused both Will and Nico: Will started to run his thumb over the written symbol on Nico's wrist.

Nico's heart started to beat faster and faster, his breath becoming shaky and unstable. He wanted to run, but he couldn't, not here, not now. Nico was determined to finish the scene, even if he dropped dead in the middle.

"Because, Faven," Will paused. He didn't want to say Faven, he really didn't. Will didn't know when it happened, whether it was a few days ago or whether it was the first time he laid his eyes on this boy, but somewhere down the line Will noticed the boy and now he had him in his grip and he intended to never let him go again. "Because I like you," he said it.

There was silence that had fallen over both the actors on stage and the audience of actors. There was nothing to say about the feeling that fell over the stage at that moment. Words were not powerful enough to explain or even start to. A feeling that could only be described of love flooded the room, drowning anyone within hearing distance.

"I don't know when it started, but all I know is that when it did, there was no going back," Will squeezed Nico's wrist, still running his thumb over the marking. If those were the lines he was supposed to say, he said them only by accident.

Nico stayed quiet. By now, both boys didn't know if they were following the script or not, but they didn't care. Nico was trying his best not to pass out while Will was trying not to kiss the boy right then and there. Even though it was written in that he would eventually, not right now, Will knew he couldn't handle it.

"I, uhh… I, I…" if Faven couldn't find the words, Nico sure as hell couldn't.

Will removed the space between them, still having a hold on his wrist, and looked down at the younger. Nico tried to resist the look in Will's endless blue eyes, but he couldn't. Nico raised his head only to meet Will's longing gaze. Nico looked at the older boy through his eyelashes and that sent an electric shock through Will; he never noticed how long the boy's eyelashes were until now.

Raising his hand to cress Nico's cheek, his heart began to race faster and faster. He brushed a piece of hair out of his face before making his way behind his ear. Slow and shallow breaths escaped both of their lips. Will leaned down slowly to kiss the younger boy, and just before he was about to kiss him, he changed his direction and kissed Nico right between his eyebrows.

When Will pulled away, where he had just kissed Nico burned. Nico was in a daze, unable to move. He forced himself to keep going and they finished the scene.

They finished the play and got everything put away. Will was about to walk up to Nico who was across the room, he was talking to some other guys, when Nico saw, grabbed his stuff and left. Will was slightly disappointed, but he just carried on like nothing had happened.

Nico ran home, barely stopping until he reached his front door. When he opened the door, his family tried to ask him how things went, but Nico just ignored him and ran to his room. He stayed there the entire night, not coming out for anything. When his sisters tried to ask him what happened, he just waved them off. Nico stayed in his room uninterrupted for the rest of the night. Today had been long enough for him and he just wanted it to be over, but if today was to be over, tomorrow was to come and he wasn't sure if he could handle tomorrow if it was anything like today. 

_**Thanks to those who stuck around and didn't want to kill their self's, that makes me really happy. Id like to thank my editor for complaining about my bad timing when she's with her boyfriend and putting up with the fact that she might want to kill me. Thank you to those who Favorite, Review, and Follow. You are my favorite people in the world because you put up with my bullshit and half assed ideas and you support them. I wish I could give you all cookies and hugs!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	5. Chapter 5- Fight Club

_**Alright, small note, im sorry its been so long, just don't kill me please! I had a convention, summer school, went back home to visit family (No wifi at all), got sick, wrote a play, started school… any other excusses that will work? That's all I can think of for this moment. My normal beta/editor got grounded (God bless her) and I have to do this shit all on my own. Ill explain more at the bottom. Thank you for sticking around! Chapter 5!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Still not Rick (BTW that would be cool)**_

When Nico woke up the next morning, he wanted to crawl back under the covers and waist away to nothing. Last night had been a little more than he thought he could handle, but like always, he mustered through the day, mainly because it was Friday. Nico knew his free days were limited now that everyone knew.

He dragged himself out of bed and made his way to school. He wanted to skip class today, but he couldn't, not with finals right around the corner and summer following; he did not want to sacrifice his freedom to hours of hell, well, more than normal.

In English class, they stopped talking about _Romeo and Juliet_ , instead they moved on to a simpler topic: Greek and Roman Gods and Goddess. Nico loved this topic, it just felt… right. They moved from Zeus to Hades to Apollo. They moved from God to Goddess, Greek to Roman. In the end, he fell in love with Hades, he didn't know why, he just did. Something about the way everyone thinks of him to how he actually is, Nico could relate.

During the class, Nico had a strange love/hate relationship with the God of the sun. He found him strangely annoying, yet oddly charming. Apollo reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

Nico skipped from English to math to science and never had a problem. He was making his way downstairs for lunch when Luke stopped him at the bottom.

"What's up, Neeks?" he said with a fake smile.

"Leave me alone Luke," Nico muttered while trying to pass him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa; where do you think you're going?" he asked slightly angered.

"Just leave me alone or I swear I'll knock you down a peg myself," Nico raised the murderous sound in his voice while still keeping it low.

Luke backed up slightly; he didn't know Nico had it in him. He smiled back at the younger boy in front of him.

By now most of Luke's friends had shown up, including Jason, Will, Annabeth, Percy, and Thalia. They stopped before coming in full contact with the two boys.

"Look who's getting ballsy," Luke snarled. He took a step up closer to Nico to get into his face.

Nico was not taking this anymore and got right back into Luke's face. "Listen here Lukey, if, by god, you try another one of these 'threats' again, I will pound your face so far in that even with surgery, they won't be able to put your face back to normal," Nico spat. "So, try me, I dare you, because right now, I am so far beyond done that messing with me right now isn't safe for your health." As Nico spoke, he stepped down step by step until he was poking at Luke on the ground.

Luke could tell that more people had begun to watch them, and because of his over-sized ego, he wasn't going to let this tiny Italian boy talk down to him, well, in a metaphorical sense. Luke poked back at Nico with his index finger, his face now fallen.

"Do you have a death wish?" Luke spat.

"No, but it looks like you do," Nico smirked.

Luke pushed Nico into the stairs. Jason and Will yelled at him and started to walk over. Nico wasn't going to let him get away with it, so he pushed back. Luke stopped and stared at the boy who he thought didn't have it in him, he was wrong.

"Hey!" Jason yelled. He tried to intervene, but got pushed away by Luke.

"Stay out of this," Nico howled. "It's between me and this freak."

Luke took the first swing, missing by only a few inches when Nico ducked out of the way. Nico didn't want to give the other boy the satisfaction that he had some sort of lead on him. Each punch that Luke took, Nico stepped out of the way, never hitting back, only dodging. Luke aimed for Nico's jaw, barely grazing it. As Luke leaned in for another shot, Nico ducked and socked him right in the solar plex. Luke tumbled back, his head following.

When he recovered, he shot his head up, giving the younger boy the death glare. Nico stood up, swaying side by side, shaking his wrist to relax the pain from the direct contact.

"Hey, hey!" shouted Jason, trying to get in the middle of the two boys.

"Nico!" Will try to intervene.

By now there was a crowd surrounding the fight, Luke's friends leading the crowd. Shouting and yelling could be heard, people were even betting on who was going to pass out and who was going to win.

Luke regained his cool and stood up straight, looking at the younger guy. He shot him a devilish smile.

"I told you not to mess with me today," Nico purred, a smile appearing on his face in a twisted way.

"Go to hell," Luke coughed.

"Already there," and with that, he ran forward towards the older boy.

Luke tried to swing, but missed. Nico dodged side to side, landing in punch after punch, but soon his luck ran dry. Luke managed to sucker punch him, sending his flying backwards, hitting the back of his head on the stairs. Nico staggered to regain his balance, using his hands to prop him upright.

Both sides were slowing down, yet none gave an inch. Luke was able to get a few more hits. Nico rammed his fist into Luke's gut, sending him back. Again and again he sent Luke packing.

The teachers started to notice the fight a few moments back, but now they came over to check it out.

Luke came got up from off the ground and staggered his way over.

"You haven't had enough?" Nico asked.

"Time for you to shut up," Luke spat, he literally spat, like, there was a little bit of blood and everything.

Luke raised his fist, and before he could even think about making contact, Nico raised his fist and slammed it into Luke's jaw. The older boy stumbled back and spat out blood onto the floor. Before he could return the favor, the teachers burst though the cluster of students and grabbed a hold of Luke's first before he could slam it down.

The teachers had a hold on both Nico and Luke while trying to disburse the crowd. Both tried to wipe the blood from their faces while the teachers dragged them down to the office. When they arrived, they were put on chairs outside of the principal's office and told wait.

They sat in silence, nobody dared to talk. The clicking of the clock continued to tick on, signaling the passage of time being slower than it felt. The uncomfortable silence was almost too much.

"Props," said Luke. Nico just looked at him in confusion. "Don't look at me like that. I'm just saying not a lot of people even dare to think of doing something like that to me."

"Don't think too highly of yourself," he muttered back.

Luke laughed then started to cough. He wiped away some of the blood on the corner of his lip.

"You know, I thought you were just some pushover, but I guess you're not so bad."

"You are literally just saying that because I just beat the shit of you in front of everyone," Nico joked back only half serious.

"You little shit… but I guess you're not half bad, and don't forget about the fact that Piper isn't wrong, you're really adorable, in a shitty little brother/angry kitten kind of way."

"Why is everyone so gay around here?" Nico slammed his head on the wall behind the chair. "Oww…" he rubbed the back of his head to ease the pain.

"Not gay, dude" he showed his wrist to the younger boy.

"That doesn't mean anything to me, _dude_ ," Nico flatly shot back.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You and Will, right?" he laughed. "That's cute."

"Shut up dipshit."

"Look who's getting ballsy now."

"I will beat you up again, so don't push it," Nico grumbled.

The two boys sat there waiting to be sent in. Nico didn't know what came over him to do that, but something had changed inside of him and he was not going to just sit there and take it. He wasn't too worried about what was to come, most times he would, but now, he just didn't. He had been a good student ever sense he was young and now, he just didn't really care anymore because he wasn't that scared little boy that he once was.

When the door opened to the room in front of them, a tall man with curly hair stepped out. He signaled for the two boys to enter his room. They sat in the chairs directly in front of his desk and waited for him to sit in his own.

"Hello boys," he said. "Hello, Luke."

"Hey, old man. Gotten a few new grey hairs sense my last visit, no?" Luke asked totally relaxed.

"I'm not surprised to see Luke in here, but you di Angelo, I don't think I've seen you in here before," he stated.

"No, sir," Nico muttered under his breath. Nico wasn't the one to get into trouble; he was the one to stop it.

He turned to face both boys again. "Now, from my understanding, both of you are in here because you two got into a fight, am I correct?" he looked at the two boys, scanning their faces, realising how stupid that question was; both Luke and Nico had blood splattered a crossed their faces and down on their shirts. Both had black eyes and bruises on their cheeks.

Mr. Chiron sighed, he knew these boys weren't this bad, well, at least Nico wasn't, but Luke was a whole other story. He scanned the two boys; one was relaxing back in his chair like he owned it-probably because he did, being in here so much- and the other so stiff, that if a gust of wind had blown though, he would probably fall over or pass out due to lack of oxygen; the boy didn't even look like he was breathing.

"Boys,"- he sighed-"Do you wish to tell me what happened?" Both boys took a breath of air and were about to start explain their side of the story at once when the principal raised his hand to silence them. "One at a time, starting with Luke."

"To be honest, I don't see why we have been called in here," he threw his feet up on the desk, "Like, I mean, we just got mad at each other and had a civilised conversation," he paused, shrugging his shoulders, "With our fists, to each other's face. Anyway, we worked it all out and its fine."

You could tell Luke had been in here enough times by the way he treated Mr. Chiron. Luke was disrespectful to numerous amounts of teachers, but his aura here was more of a relaxed, 'how are you doing?' kind of attitude. It also helped to show the way the principal treated him by giving him some leeway, but still having his own rules so Luke wouldn't push it too far.

"We're chill now and I don't want to bash his face in every time I see him. We are on neutral grounds here."

Luke was good at arguing with people; Nico never had the courage to do so.

"Di Angelo, your turn," Mr. Chiron gestured to the younger boy.

Nico straightened himself up right, trying to look bigger and more confident than he originally was. He had never been in trouble, so how did he know how to act in this kind of situation?

"I, uhh… I just… kind of," his voice cracked "Sorry about that. Well, I was just on my way to lunch and…" Nico's voice became small. He looked at the principal then back to Luke then back to the principal. Nico didn't know what to say, he never had to think about what he needed to say. Nico always understood what he was about to talk about before he made the effort to say something, but this, this was different from anything he ever had to do.

"Nico pissed me off, I swung first, end of story," Luke intervened. Was Luke actually standing up for him? Was he helping the boy that made him mad every time he looked at him because he respected him a little more?

"Is this true, Nico?" Mr. Chiron leaden inwards, he raises his brow.

"No sir, you see-"

"Why would you ask him? I'm telling you I attacked first, so shouldn't that be enough?" Luke sighed. "Anyway, it was the kids first fight, so just let me take this one."

Mr. Chiron was shocked to hear this. Was Luke, the bad boy of the school, getting into fights almost every day, actually trying to defend a boy he just got into a fight with? He was impressed. He couldn't think of a time where Luke had been that responsible and here he was, doing just that.

Mr. Chiron smiled and leaded back into his chair. "Well boys, this is a first, so I'm going to let the both of you off with a-"

"Both of us?!" Luke shot up out of his chair slightly.

"Yes, both of you. You'll both be let off with a warning, so I don't want to see _both_ of you back in here, unless it's for something positive," he started shuffling his papers around on his desk and placed them into a pile. He crossed his hands and set them down on his desk, scanning the boys one at a time. "Now, both of you get out of here and don't come back."

Both boys pretty much ran out of the room, taking out the chairs and tables in their way. They nonchalantly walked out of the office doors and into the halls like nothing had happened. Luke was whistling and Nico was scratching the back of his neck when they left the sectary office when they ran into all their friends, even some random casualties decided to stick around to see the outcome.

"It was a rough ride, but I black mailed Chiron enough to let me off the hock," he paused. "Oh, and this loser got off with nothing as well."

"Gods, Luke, you scared the crap out of me!" Thalia ran up to her boyfriend and jumped on him in a running hug.

"Baby, have I ever lost a fight before?"

"Yes, Luke, you just did," she said. "That one with Nico, yeah, you so lost that one."

"Hey!"

Thalia kissed his cheek. "But it is true."

Jason, Annabeth, and Piper started cooing and awing over the younger raven haired boy. They hugged him and told him he was amazing. Annabeth and Piper stepped back after the first few seconds of the hug, everything else was Jason. Jason wrapped his arms around Nico's small in his back, holding him close, muttering things such as, 'I was so worried about you!' and 'I thought I lost you!' and the really weird one of, 'I would die if I couldn't hold you again!'

"Jason, that is really gay," Piper said totally flatly. Both she and Annabeth raised their brow, giving the boy a judgmental look.

"Don't judge my love for Nico!"

"Dude, I barely even know you!" Nico shouted. "Let go of me… _Now_!" Nico wiggled side to side, trying to get away from the overly strong blonde.

"Over here!"

Both Jason and Nico looked to where the voice was coming from. They saw Percy and Will running through the crowd, pushing some people out of the way while at it. When Percy reached the inside of the crowd, he walked up to Luke and back handed him. "What the hell were you thinking?!" Percy yelled at him.

"But baby!"

"No 'baby'-ing me! I'm mad at you!" Percy said with a pout.

"But- but-" Luke gave him the baby eyes and Percy just melted.

"Oh, Lukey! You know I can't stay mad at you forever!" the two boys hugged each other.

"Why are our boyfriends so gay?" Annabeth asked Piper and Thalia who joined them, both girls shrugged and sighed.

Percy continued to hug Luke, then he back handed him once more and turned away dramatically and walked over to Nico and Jason, who were still in a hug because Jason refused to let go. Percy walked up to them and pretended to wipe away a fake tear. He put his hands over his chest and looked at Nico with sympathy.

"My poor baby!" he said, cracking his voice.

He threw his hands open and waited to be let in. Jason threw one of his arms off of Nico and into the air, allowing for Percy to enter the hug. They both started to fake cry and started to rub each other's back. As Nico squirmed, trying to get out, both boys only continued to hug and hold on even harder.

"Oh, my poor Nico," Percy cooed.

"Let go of me!" he yelled.

The girls started to roll their eyes at the boys, yet were holding back laughs from Nico's pain. He wanted to get out of there, it was hot and he couldn't breathe. After a few failed attempts, he was able to wiggle his way out of the sandwich and run away. Unknowingly, Nico ran behind Will and grabbed a hold the hem of his shirt.

Everyone looked at Nico with a smug look on their face. The sight of little Nico, all beaten up, hiding behind Will, who was twice his size, was a sight to see. Nico peered his head around Will's side ever so slowly. He looked as if he had a slight tear in his eyes.

Will put an arm around Nico from behind; pressing his hand gently on the small of his back. Percy and Jason gave each other a smug look then looked at Nico with a smirk. Nico sank back into himself, still relying on Will for moral support. Nico grabbed the front of Will's shirt as well as the back, his gip shaky, yet firm.

"What did you guys do to him?" Will asked with a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Nothing!" both boys replied back in unison.

Will laughed a musically, almost as if an angel had laughed. The blonde looked down at the raven haired boy with amusement. The younger boy had his head lodged into the blonde armpit, but he didn't care, he felt safe there.

When Nico averted his eyes to the ground, Will took it as if he didn't want to be around these people anymore, and knowing how anti-social he was, he wasn't really going to make the first move to leave.

Will grabbed Nico by his waist, lifting him into the air bridal-style and walking off with him, leaving everyone to just stand there, stunned. Jason and Percy were still in their weird hugging formation while the girls stood there with a smile of mixed emotions spread a crossed their faces.

Will brought Nico all the way over to the upstairs-right wing bathroom. He set the younger boy down, still holding onto him by the waist. When he opened the door and led the younger boy in, he let go of his side and closed the door behind him. He instructed Nico to hop up on the counter. The younger boy turned around and removed some of the water off the side of the sink with his finger and raised his brow to the older.

Will sighed and walked over to the sink, grabbing paper towel and wiping the side of the sink dry before picking Nico up at his waist yet again and setting him down gently on the now dry surface. He turned on the water to lukewarm and placed a sheet of paper towel underneath until it was soaked.

While preparing paper towel with soap, he said, "Didn't think you'd be so compliant. I think I'm starting to rub off on you."

"First off-"

"Hold still," Will said softly as he dabbed the paper towel on Nico's scratches and tried to wipe off the blood splattered a crossed his face. When the material came into contact with the injuries, Nico flinched in pain. Will brought his free hand up to Nico's face to steady it. He rubbed his thumb on the side of his cheek for reassurance, to show the younger how he was there and how much he cared.

"Almost done," Will sang softly, his voice relaxing and musical.

Nico leaned into the care of the older blonde, letting him take control. He pulled back at times, but for the most part, he let the older boy take care of his face.

"First off, you're not rubbing on to me. You kinda forced me in here and I rather not go home with a bloody face," Nico's voice softened from the first time he tried that sentence.

Will laughed gently to himself. Will continued to clean up the younger boy in silent, one not talking to the other, not uncomfortable silence, but a type of mutual silence, just enjoying the others company. (Neither would admit this, but both took great pride in this moment, even with Nico injured. Will and Nico made a silent vow to never tell Piper about this. Ever.)

Will continued to stroke Nico's cheek gently as he finished up with the first round of paper towel. Once the first one was bloody and couldn't be used any more, he threw it out and started to prepare another one. He started to hum as he wetted down the next batch of paper towel, adding soap to help wipe away the extra blood.

Every movement Will took was fluid, never did he move too fast or too slow. Will got extremely close to the younger boy while trying to clean him up. Nico wanted to get away; he could feel the blonde's breath brush alongside his cheek, sending shivers down his spine.

"I want to be a doctor," Will spoke gently.

Nico looked up at him confused.

"What?"

Will looked down at him and smiled. He threw out the now bloody piece of paper towel into the garbage.

"I want to be a doctor, you know, when I get out of here," he grabbed a new piece, but he kept this one dry. "So if there's someone who needs my help, well, I just have to help. Kind of like now."

Will wiped the remaining soap and water from the younger boy's face. Nico was still looking up at him with a strange look in his eyes. When the blonde noticed this, he just smiled back at the younger.

"Stop looking at me like that," Nico shot at the other boy, averting his eyes to anywhere but to the older blonde's face.

Will looked back to the younger boy when he threw out the last piece of paper towel.

"Just ice it to reduce the swelling and your adorable face should be saved," Will spoke as he washed and dried his hands.

Will stood in front of Nico and held out his arms. "Jump," he said cheerfully.

Nico swatted away his hands and proceeded to climb off the counter himself.

"Don't treat me like a child," he muttered.

Will laughed at that, but he let him be. The younger boy wiped his own face with the hem of his shirt to remove the extra water that Will had missed.

Nico proceeded to check himself in the mirror to see the amount of damage that had been done to his face while Will just hanged back and watched. Nico traced the scratch that formed along his jaw, following some of the bruises on his upper lip.

Nico backed away from the mirror and straightened his shirt. Will opened the door and gestured towards it. Both boys made their way out of the bathroom and made their way to their class.

….

"I am not wearing that!" Nico yelled while proceeding to throw down a plastic bag.

Will sighed and rubbed his face with his hand.

"Come on, you have to," he tried to calm the younger boy down.

"No! I am not letting you do that to me," Nico yelled back. "I still have my pride!"

Will rubbed the back of his neck and sighed once again. He bent down and picked up the bag that the raven haired boy had thrown.

"I would do it but you have the girly-er face, so," he threw the bag to Nico, "put it on."

"I'm still not doing it…"

"Faven, you have too," Will pleaded.

"Faven, Ash is right. If we didn't feel like this was necessary than we wouldn't make you do it," spoke another blonde who had his arms crossed.

Nico shot both boys a death glare, not giving an inch to either boy. Will raised his brow and Nico sighed.

"Fine," he gave in, "but I swear to god I'm going to get you back for this!" he yelled, walking off stage.

"You can spank me later," he called, "but first, get that on."

"Shut up, Mathews!"

"And scene!" yelled Mrs. A from off stage. She walked up clapping her hands.

Nico rejoined the other people on stage. He avoided the eye contact Will was trying to give him.

"That is all we are going to be doing for today," she exclaimed. "That was amazingly wonderful, and Nico, I'm so glad you have quite a few of your lines down. And now onto what I want to know, what the hell happened to your face?!"

Nico rubbed his fingers over the cut on his cheek and the bruises alongside his lip. The younger boy shrugged. "Nothing really; just got into a fight, nothing major."

Mrs. A dramatically put her hand on her forehead and pretended to faint. She continued to fan her face with her hand. "Di Angelo, that is no excuses! Now, please reframe from fighting until after the show. I don't need your gorgeous face damaged beforehand."

She calmed herself again and continued to speak to the other actor. "Now, I only have a few notes, so I was thinking that…"

As Nico started to walk away, Will jogged up to catch him before he got too far. He grabbed Nico's wrist after a few failed attempts to call his name and get his attention.

"Nico," Will spoke with a sturdy voice.

Nico turned around and stared into the older boy's endless blue eyes. He spoke softly, "What?"

"Give me your phone."

"What?" Nico backed up slightly, looking confused.

"I'm not going to steal it," Will spoke with a slight laugh, "I'm just going to input my number."

"Why would I give you my phone for that?"

Will rubbed the back of his neck before speaking. "You know, 'cause of our… you know, date tomorrow…" Will's voice didn't sound as confident as it had been only a few seconds prior. His face was red and he averted his eyes away from the younger boy's obsidian orbs.

Nico looked away from the boy in front of him and debated whether or not he should give his phone to him. Nico ended up losing the battle between himself, and like a scared little boy who just got caught stealing, he handed his phone over slowly and shyly to the older boy whose face lit up like a Christmas tree.

Will released Nico's wrist and continued to type in his number. When Nico got his phone back, he looked through his contacts and saw the name and number as the boy in front of him. He shoved his phone back into his pocket a little too quickly and mumbled something incoherent and walked away with his face a bright crimson.

Nico didn't have to look back to know that the blonde behind him had the biggest smile on his face.

 _ **So a quick breakdown of everything is I need a new beta and would love to not rely on the new system I have created from all-nighters, so if anybody wishes to take that on, please I already have my old one working on my other story which BTW I haven't stopped, it was just on hold over the summer, should pick back up shortly. I have auditions for the school play on Thursday and im a huge ball of mess. Totes having my monologue Greek based tho! I'll try my best with school starting up and with the bullshit that's going on medically (Which, if you knew me irl wouldn't seem so bad cuz im always dying and shit) but my old problem is coming back which makes it hard to sit or stand for long periods of time and shit, but enough about me, now on to you guys. When I say you guys are the best fans in the world, im not talking about those celebrities who go on about that, you guys put up with my Bullshit and actual like me and dyslexic ass, being all illiterate and shit. THANK YOU im not joking. I love you guys. I wish I could reply back to your reviews but I get to nervous and flake out, but I have a file on my phone and in my email just for you guys reviews so keep them up, they make my world. I love you guys and good night!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	6. Chapter 6- Date Night

_**I'm back with a normally timed chapter again! Are you happy? I am! Could I say 'I'm' instead of 'I am'? Are you happy? I'm! It's literally the same thing. English is confusing. Like, 'don't you care?' is technically 'do not you care?' and it's confusing as hell. Being dyslexic doesn't really help all too well with that too. So, I'm gonna be off duty for a while due to upcoming surgery – missing physics in school while at it – but I have a few chapters written in preparation for that, so normal updates should still be coming! Alright, enough with me monologue-ing, on to the chapter!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Still don't own these guys. Kick starter to get copyrights for just the two characters 2k15!**_

"What the hell is wrong with your face?!" Was the first thing his mother said when he got home that night from practice.

His sisters entered when they heard the cries of their mother. They stood beside her and just stared at their younger brother as he slugged his bag from his shoulders to the counter on his way to grab something from the fridge. He pulled out leftovers and threw them into the microwave and pressed start.

"Got into a fight at school," he spoke completely nonchalantly.

"What?!" His mother exclaimed.

"Didn't see that one coming," Bianca spoke more hushed.

"Not a big deal," he grabbed the container from the microwave when it beeped and grabbed a fork. "I didn't even get into trouble."

Nico made his way over to the table and sat down. He mother and sisters followed him, surrounding themselves around him. He moved the food inside the container side to side before stabbing a piece and eating it.

"What happened?" Hazel spoke with curiosity.

"Luke and I went at it and I totally beat the shit out of him," he swallowed.

"Nico…" His mother growled at his choice of language.

"Anyway…" he continued, "we thought we were going to get in trouble, but Mr. Chiron totally let us off without consequences."

His family looked at one another then sighed. His mother got up and started to pick up the mess Nico had made in the few seconds he was in the house. His sisters continued to move closer to him.

"You know what this means, right?" Bianca asked Hazel.

She nodded with a sad look in her eye before replying, "Yes, yes I do."

"What crazy nonsense are you guys spewing?" Nico asked in between bites.

"Oh nothing…" both his sisters said.

Nico just continued to ignore his crazy family while he ate. Once he was done, he tossed the empty container into the sink and headed upstairs to his room.

He slammed the door shut and got undressed. He threw on a pair of baggy pants and jumped on his bed.

Nico started to run his hand over his marked up features and groaned as he sat up in his bed. He remembered what Solace had told him when he was cleaning up his face. He knew what he had to do, so he made his way downstairs and got an ice pack from the freezer and headed back upstairs.

He grabbed his playbook from the table at the side of his bed and started going through it. He was able to memorize multiple scenes at a time, going through the blocking in his head while at it. He tried to imagine the different actors in the scenes with him, but by the time he got to the last one, his mind was filled up with nothing but Will Solace. His face went bright red and he tried to hide it under the script, even though there was nobody in the room to see or hear him, he just didn't want to admit it to himself.

Nico tried to shake off the thought of what was going to happen in scene fourteen, when he had to kiss Will. Nico didn't know if he wanted to, he didn't know if he could. With so many people watching him, he thought he was going to panic and run off stage before they even got close to that scene, hell, the second scene might make him run.

He ran that scene over and over in his head, always coming to the same ending. The thought of Will's lips resting on his own sent chills down his spine, but he wasn't even sure if it was the good or bad kind of chills. When he thought of it, he couldn't picture the set or the costumes, but the one thing he could focus on was the thought of Will.

The way his hair seems to catch fire in the bright light and the way his eyes brought all the attention to themselves like headlights was an image burned into Nico's mind. No matter how hard he tried to shake the thought, it kept coming back.

He repeated the words over and over again, hoping that he would snap out of it, but each time he came back to the words of Will, he could feel the other boy's breathe against his cheek, mixing with his own.

Nico flung the book against the wall and shoved his face into his pillow. He didn't know what to think; he didn't know what he was supposed to think.

"What am I going to do?" he mumbled into his pillow.

Nico didn't feel like getting up or trying anything, so in his own mini protest, he lied there and fell asleep.

….

When Nico awoke, he knew something was off. He got up and headed down stairs. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he flicked his head to check the time. He had slept into two in the afternoon.

He wondered into the kitchen, still unsure, and grabbed a bowl, cereal, milk, spoon, and a new ice pack for his cheek from the freezer, tossing the melted one in its place. He sat down and mixed the ingredients into the bowl, putting the ice pack on his face.

He took his breakfast into the living room and turned on the T.V. He turned the channel to a rerun of Supernatural and started to eat. Nico had this odd thing with Castiel, he felt like he could relate to the angel in some weird way.

As Nico ate his Fruit Loops, he looked around trying to figure out what was ticking him. It was Saturday. It was the weekend. He had no homework. He thought about it, but couldn't exactly put his finger on it. Then it hit him, where was his sisters? They also had today off, and as far as he knew, they didn't have any plans for today, so where were they?

When he finished his cereal, he put it in the sink and headed up to his room. He checked his phone, hoping someone would let him know what was up, then put it down when he saw nothing new on it.

He walked up to his bookshelf and skimmed through the books he owned. He didn't want to think of the play today, so he tried to find something else to do.

When he found nothing interesting, he sat at his desk and turned on his laptop. He jumped from website to website, cat video to cat video. By the time he checked what time it was, three hours had passed.

Nico sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. They soon shot open when he heard his door slam open. He looked at the door and saw his sisters and two other girls.

Nico got up, shutting his laptop in the proses. There, in his doorway, stood Bianca, Hazel, Annabeth, and Reyna.

Reyna was a good friend of theirs. She was part of rare few who hadn't gotten a number on her wrist when she turned sixteen and she was fine with that. Reyna had always been there for Nico and Hazel when they were in trouble and her and Annabeth had a sister-type relationship, so the five of them were pretty close.

"What the hell are you guys doing in my room?!" Nico yelled.

The girls walked in and sat on his bed, Bianca leaning on his closet door.

"I think you know," Bianca said with a smirk.

"Girls," Reyna spoke, "we have an hour, let's not waist time."

The girls smiled at him and started to corner Nico. He was shaking, he had no clue what was happening, yet deep down he did.

They grabbed him and sat him down on his bed, well; more like slammed, but let's not sweat the details. Annabeth and Hazel made their way over to his closet and started pulling out clothes and throwing them on his desk chair.

Bianca and Reyna had pulled out their own chairs from who-knows-where and set them in front of the younger boy and sat down. They opened up bags and started to pull things out of them.

"Umm… guys…" Nico choked.

It took Annabeth and Hazel ten minutes to find something from Nico's closet that didn't scream _mentally unstable teenager_. They laid out a dress shirt that was a light grey and a leather belt. They even picked out a pair of white socks that Nico himself didn't even know he had. They had managed to even find a pair of pants that weren't a women's size or ripped. The two girls were really proud of themselves when they found the dress pants.

Bianca and Reyna even started to get to work on Nico. They had pulled all the stops on this one; their makeup bag overflowing. They started by applying a liquid to his face that, when they rubbed it in, matched his skin tone. Nico was really confused by everything they had put on him. Different types of creams went on his face, some with colors that made it questionable if they belonged on anyone's face, let alone girls. They added powder to the bruises to hide it in a painting of cream and dust.

Nico sneezed when they took their big brush and started applying whatever this powder thing was by the dozen. His face was starting to feel heavy and he knew they weren't even close to done.

They added powders of all colors of the wind to his face and by the time he was done, all the girls were smiling at him with insanity in their eyes.

"I think I just did the impossible," Reyna stated. "I just made Nico even cuter."

"My face feels heavy," Nico muttered and the girls started to laugh.

"That's just how it goes," Bianca pointed out. "Just suck it up. Now, put these on," she handed her little brother the clothes Hazel and Annabeth had picked out.

"Why do I need to do all this?" Nico asked in protest.

"Because it's your first date and that's always the most important one," Bianca purred.

"How did you guys find out?" Nico asked. "I know I told you it was happening, but not the date," he gestured towards Annabeth.

Nico went silent for a few seconds. Bianca started to count down, "Three… two…"

"Annabeth!" Nico hissed while having the rest of the girls copying him.

Annabeth just put up her hands in a surrendering way and just acted like she had nothing to do with this. "To my defence, it could be worse," she tried to cover herself up. "Imagine what would have happened if I didn't tell them and you either A) skipped, or B) didn't tell them. It could have been much worse. Personally, I believe that I saved you, but say what you will."

Nico was about to protest once again, but was pushed into the bathroom by his sister and thrown the clothes by Reyna.

When Nico came out of the bathroom, all the girls pretended to cry, wiping their eyes with invisible tissues and everything. Nico had looked at himself in the bathroom mirror and even he was surprised by what he saw. Most times he would wear all black, and even when he didn't wear all black, it was mostly really dark grey – Nico was basically Batman – but this time the grey didn't seem like his usual depressing, ' _I hate my life'_ grey, this time it had a purpose. The dusty grey dress shirt with the cuffs rolled up ever so slightly was not something he was used to seeing when he looked in the mirror, that and the fact his sisters painted his face in makeup to hide the scratches and bruises he gained from the fight from yesterday.

"One last thing," Reyna spoke gently as she took Nico by the wrist and dragged him downstairs while being followed by the other girls.

When they got downstairs, Reyna pulled out a hairbrush and some sorts of hair jell and spray. She told him to sit down on the chair and he followed. The girls sat around them while Reyna worked her magic. She pulled and sprayed his hair in all direction. By the time she was done, Nico had parts of his left side of hair pulled and jelled back. The hair on top was just the right amount of messy, but not too much to make it seemed like he didn't try; it looked like he tried at least 78%. Not too much and not too little, just right.

"I am just on a roll today, aren't I?" Reyna asked after she pulled out mirror for Nico to check himself in to.

"I just got a text from Percy and it seems they just got done with Will," Annabeth said as she checked her phone. "He should be here soon then."

"I think I'm going to be sick…" Nico said sounding a little wheezy.

"You are not allowed to be sick today," Annabeth pointed out.

Nico sat on the couch just staring at the wall. His face had gone pale and his breathing sped up alongside his heartbeat. Hazel brought him a glass of water and he drank it all in on take.

"Is it too late to turn it down?" Nico asked the girls with a small voice. They all nodded. "Great…"

"Anyways Nico, mother and father will be home by the time you get back so don't worry about it too much," Bianca said while rubbing his back.

They sat there fixing with Nico's appearance until the doorbell rang and Bianca got up to get it. She opened the door and standing there was Will, who, for a matter of fact, looked almost like Nico did. Bianca gave him the what for before stepping out of the way.

Nico stood up, stiff as a board. Hazel grabbed his jacket and Reyna messed with his hair for the last time before shoving him towards the door were Hazel handed him said jacket.

When he stepped in front of the door and saw the boy standing there, he almost lost his breath. He didn't have much done with his hair, but what was done with it was perfection; parted just the right way that it didn't fall over his eyes, but swooped, and the ends had been flipped outwards which added to the messy aspect.

Even though Will had his black leather jacket on, he had a pale blue dress shirt on underneath and it was breathtaking. He wore the usual black belt and black dress pants, but the way they looked on him was incredible; every seam seemed to have been made especially for him.

Nico just stood there like a fool with his eyes wide. He quickly regained himself and put his aviator jacket on.

"I want my baby back by ten," Bianca said like his mother, "and no later."

This helped Will loosen up and smile. He nodded and smiled at her before turning his eyes back onto the younger boy. "You look nice," he spoke gently to the younger boy whose face broke out into an intense blush. "I didn't expect you to give me at least 78%. I was thinking more of a 65%. Max."

Nico continued to look anywhere but at Will while the blonde couldn't remove his eyes from the raven haired boy's.

"Alright you two, that's enough or I'm gonna puke, but in a good way," Bianca stated. "Now, get out of here!" she yelled right before pushing Nico out of the house.

"Make good decisions!" Annabeth yelled right before Bianca closed the door.

Will and Nico stood on the front porch for a good few seconds. Will would look at Nico and smile slightly, and then Nico would advert his eyes and try not to show his reddening face.

"You, uhh, wanna head… out," Will coughed and pointed to his car, "now?" He asked rubbing the back of his neck anxiously.

Nico looked up at the blonde, shoved his hands inside his pocket, then averted his eyes again before nodding slightly, just enough for Will to understand he was agreeing.

"Great!" Will exclaimed before taking Nico's wrist and gently leading him to his car. When they reached his car, Will opened the side door and Nico got in slowly.

…..

Back in the house, the girls were watching the two boys as they made their way into the car.

"They are so cute together," Rayna pointed out.

Bianca flopped back onto the couch and threw her feet on the coffee table. "Yeah, they're adorable."

"I wonder how long it's going to be until they fully get together," Annabeth said while taking a drink of water.

"I wanna know when Nico's going to admit he has a thing for him," Hazel stretched out.

"Ooo, that's a good idea!" Bianca stated. "Let's play a game."

Annabeth looked over at her. "What does that mean?"

"I think you're smart enough to figure it out."

"Oh, that is a wonderful idea!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Reyna agreed.

"Alright!" Bianca clapped her hands and stood up. "Now everyone, please start placing your bets!"

The girls sat there thinking about what time they thought the Nico would admit he was in love with the blonde. They sat in silence until Annabeth decided she had an answer.

"I'm going with…"

 _ **My own wardrobe takes me ten minutes to find something that doesn't scream mentally unstable teenage as well, don't worry precious child! For those, like, two people that read my other story,**_ **How about no!,** _ **I'm in the middle of emailing the chapters to myself to have them on my hard drive instead on tablet, so I'm hoping to have the next chapter for that up soon.**_

 _ **I have a new one that I've been working on – it might be my last solangelo story for a while too – but it won't come out until this one or my other one is near completed or is so. I'm not gonna stop writing, just switching OTP's. Gonna try my hand at AOT or SNK, which ever one you choice.**_

 _ **I know where this one is going, not sure how the whole thing will play out, but the plot is gonna take a turn for the feels in about ten or so chapters (Each chapter is a day, so do the math), so prepare your hearts for the future!**_

 _ **I'd like to say thank you guys for reviewing (Especially the ones that review every chapter, I look forward to you guys more than you realize). You guys are the literal shit, and if I could, I would hug you all like no tomorrow. I love you guys, and I am in no way lying. Oh, and those who were wondering, I got the part I wanted in the play! Just for those who were wondering.**_

 _ **Thank you!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	7. Chapter 7- Date Night Part: 2

_**Alright, so I forgot how much I love this chapter (super narcissistic of me, I know), so while rereading it over for editing, I'm sitting here, like a loser, laughing my ass off when I really shouldn't be. This might be my favorite chapter, its right up there with 'Fight Club.' So I had to take a crap ton of school off for surgery, so I'm swamped with Physics and Social homework out my ass. (trying to figure what the fuck I'm doing in Physics is the hard part) I have a crap ton to catch up on and lines for the play I need to memorize, so it might be a while (More waiting time?! What?!) till the next updates. Yeah, I know, I'm sorry. You are all like my family and I love you all!**_

 _ **P.S. Totally got the Magnus Chase book, so for the next week, Magnus Chase is going to be my little bitch!**_

 _ **Now, on to then show!**_

 **DISCLAIMER:** _ **I don't own these pieces of ass, only borrowing them for the feels.**_

….

"Where are we going?" Nico asked flatly. Will laughed softly before turning on the car.

Tonight was Nico and Will's first date and neither was sure what was going to happen. Nico was trying his best to not pass out or let the blonde beside him hear how loud his heart was beating. He couldn't quite figure out why he was having so much trouble steadying it, but once I started, it never stopped.

Nico griped the leather seats so tight that his knuckles had turned white. He was staring outside the window so he didn't have to look at the blonde. Nico would never admit it but the older boy looked really good today, and smelled really good, but he was able to push that thought to the side.

"Well, I was going to do some place really fancy, but it would appear I was trying too hard," Will said as he pulled out of the parking lot and into the street. "Then it was somewhere small, like McDonalds, but that would make it seem as I wasn't trying hard enough, so," he turned the signal light on and turned right, "you're just going to have to wait and see," he finished with a lopsided smile.

"Great…"

As Will drove, Nico continued to look out of the window. The streets illuminated by overhead street lamps, the mixing of sun and moon sending a soft blueish-pink tint over the grass if passing by lawns. Darkened clouds passed over the sunset, turning on and off the natural lighting, offsetting the orange-ish hue from the lamps and the setting sun in the distance.

Will quickly glanced over at the raven haired boy who was staring out of the window. The setting sun gave the illusion of a fiery halo above Nico's head. The moon that had taken over the sky gave an almost magical aura to his hair. The fiery reds and shivering blues were enough to send Will crazy.

When Will looked at the younger boy, something seemed off. He looked back again and this time Nico looked back. Will's eyes went from the road to the younger boys face back to the road. Nico removed his gaze from the side window and looked at the blonde who couldn't decide on where to look.

"What?" Nico asked slightly annoyed.

Will looked at Nico and smiled. He turned his head back to the front window and laughed slightly to himself. He shook his head at the younger. "Hey, are you wearing makeup?" Will asked in between laughs.

Nico blushed and turned his head away from him. "No…" he mumbled, but it was obvious he was lying. Will found it adorable.

Nico wasn't really sure where they were going, but to be honest, he was kind of excited, yet he would never admit that to anyone. Ever.

It wasn't long before they reached a small, secluded part of town. It wasn't particularly run down, more like homely. It seemed as if everyone knew everyone, in that manner of speak. The buildings looked old fashion; the road seemed old, yet new. Everything seemed to jump out of the pages of an old history book.

To Nico, this felt like home. Not the home he had now, but the one he had back in Italy. Just from the look of how tiny and secure everything looked and seemed, it reminded him of the old parts of his home country. He smiled to this.

Will drove through the streets with a slight smile as he saw the way the younger boy's face lit up. He knew this was the right choice; well at least Jason was right.

Only until yesterday had Will been completely out of ideas of what to do; he thought and thought, but nothing came out. He was in a rut and couldn't get out. He had complained to his cousin and friend for an entire night before they both gave in and stayed the night at his house planning everything. Percy or Jason would never admit the amount of fun and pleasure they had when planning the whole thing.

Will had told them countless of times on how gay they seemed when they, not only pulled out their phones and turned on Pinterest, but because they started to make what they call 'a wall' and they started to 'pin' things to these 'walls'

"I think this would be perfect!" Percy stated as he tapped his phone. "Pinned it."

"Wow," Will said completely amused with the boys.

"No, I think this would be a lot better," Jason pointed out as he gave the other boy his phone. Percy nodded in agreement before tapping a few things on Jason's phone and sending the link to himself.

"I can't," Will said, rubbing his face with his hand before stretching his face and leaning on his arm. "I just can't."

The two boys sat at the end of Will's bed cross lagged, facing each other, tapping away at their phones. The boys squealed over different things, showing the other one and saying things like 'pinning' or 'pin it' and even the occasional 'I am so pinning this bitch'. Will was extremely confused as he watched the two boys.

Percy and Jason raised their heads away from the screens and looked at Will.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Percy asked.

"You guys can't be any gayer, can you?" Will asked slightly chuckling.

"That's rich coming from you," Jason poked Will.

"That's kind of the point," Will joked.

Percy and Jason just rolled their eyes and started back onto their phones.

"Here," Jason said after a few minutes.

Will had almost fallen asleep when Jason shoved his phone into the other blonde's face. He grabbed it and cracked open one eye just enough to see. He slowly sat up and leaned back. His eyes wondered onto the phone as he scrolled through the phone.

"I think this one is the one," Jason stated with Percy nodding.

As Will scrolled through pin after pin, he slowly began to smile. He liked what he saw. When he finished scrolling, he knew something was missing from this, his own personal touch, something that truly came from the heart, and he knew exactly what he was going to do.

When Jason and Percy saw the look on Will's face, they smiled and high-fived each other signaling their success. The three of them smiled and nodded their heads in a very creepy manor, but in one that they all knew.

Will pulled up to the curve and turned off the car. The restaurant was a little cove in the heart of a roomy neighbourhood. Made of brick, the feeling of simplicity was perfect. It showed Will cared just enough without seeming like he was trying too hard. Jason and Percy may have had one hell of a planning talent, but it was up to Will to make it successful, and he was planning to do just that.

"Here we are," Will said softly as he turned off the engine.

"Seams…" Nico's voice trailed off, but a ghost of a smile brushed his lips. "Nice."

Nico got out of the car first, which made Will kind of mad because he wanted to open his door; you win some; you lose some.

When they entered the restaurant, it was small and quant. The simple elegance it gave off was enough to bring a small smile to anyone's face. The brick walls were rustic and the exposed ceiling and supporting beams added a quality one couldn't define. The tablecloths were embroidered with intertwining designs, trimmed with red and gold. Wooden tables and chairs, classical paintings and photos of the world hung along the wall. The place was simple, yet perfect.

They waited for a few seconds, not really worried because they were taking it all in. A young waiter who appeared to be only in her early twenties came by; she took them and showed them to their table. Nico sat on one side of the table while Will took the one a crossed from him. He ordered them both a drink and fiddled with his hands nervously.

"Do I pass stage one?" Will asked nervously, but still with a jokingly smile.

Nico looked at the blonde, scanned the area, and then looked back at him. Nico looked at Will blankly, Will unable to make out any sign. Nico smiled slightly, only half of his lips twitching.

"For now," he smirked. Will gave a huge sigh of relief.

There waiter came over and gave them both of their drinks. She handed them their menus and told them that she would be back in a few to take their order. Both of the boys nodded their heads in appliance. Nico took a drink.

"So, what's your favorite T.V. show?" Will asked out of the blue.

Nico put his drink down and stared at Will. He raised a brow. "Is this 'twenty questions'?"

"What?" Will laughed softly, leaning forward.

"Are you going to start interrogating me now?"

Will leaned back and laughed slightly. He opened the menu and started to look through it, Nico followed soon after.

"But really. What is it?" Will said out of the blue.

Nico looked up with a look that asked if he was being serious. The two boys kept it up the look until Nico broke it by rolling his eyes and adverted them back onto the menu.

"Supernatural," Nico muttered into his menu. He tried to hide his face into it while he was at it.

Will slammed his menu onto the table a little harder than he should have. He looked up at Nico with a goofy smile on his face. His face lit up.

"Really," he said fascinated.

Nico sneaked a peak above the menu and saw his face. He hid his own behind the menu again. Nico's face was bright crimson.

"Is there anything wrong with that?" he asked with a sort of awe and wonderment.

"No, it's just…" Will's face had a huge smile plastered on it. "'Just never thought you were into that show."

"And why is that?" Nico slammed the menu on the table. It wasn't a hard slam, but just enough to get Will's attention. Will grinned.

"Well, I thought you would be into more of 'My Little Pony'," Will said nonchalantly.

"Really?" Nico raised a brow.

"Yeah, you seem like you would be into the dark and brooding things, but in reality, you're secretly a Brony."

The look that fell on Nico's face was priceless; Will just sat there, smiling like a fool. Nico just stared at him for a few seconds before the waiter came back.

"Can I take your order?" the waiter asked, slightly uncomfortably, almost seaming that she knew that she was interrupting something.

Will smiled at the waiter before taking the leading role and giving her both of their orders. (Will took his best educated guess for Nico, even though he may have seemed all doom and gloom, he was actually surprised that he made a good choice, but of course, Will never knew of this, only did he find out when Annabeth spilled everything that she squeezed of Nico after the date, but even then, it was a while before that info got out). She took away their menus and thanked them and informed them their meal would be ready shortly.

"You're a Brony…" Nico muttered, ducking his head, trying to get it out of view (Mainly using his longer hair as a cover-up). Nico smiled when Will wiped his head up to look at the younger boy, his mouth hanging wide open.

"Now, why am I a Brony?" Will asked with a lop-sided smiled. Nico just shrugged.

"Come on!" Will pleaded. "Are you just saying that because I called you one?"

"Yeah, but I see it," Nico replied nonchalantly.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Will leaned back in his chair looking at the dark haired boy; Nico sipping on his drink.

"Well, for your information, Rainbow Dash is best pony," Will said very casually.

"Yeah right, Flutter Shy is totally best pony," Nico shot back.

"Really? I don't see you as a Flutter Shy kind of guy."

"Why? Because I'm more like Twilight Sparkle?" Nico asked with a joking anger in his voice.

"I thought maybe, but then I thought Pinkie Pie for the ironic-ness of it."

"And what does that entail?" Nico asked.

"Well, you don't really smile and laugh all that much, so I thought it would be funny if your favorite pony was Pinkie Pie, you know, because she's all bright and cheery."

"No, that's you. And you seem more like Apple Jack than Rainbow Dash, but I do see where you're coming from."

"Okay, Princess Luna or Princess Celestia?" Will asked.

"Luna, hands down," Nico said super confidentially.

"See, I'm more Princess Sun-Butt, but I don't judge."

"Oh, look-y here. Will Solace is a fan of the Sun-Butt, no surprise there," Nico said, flicking his straw at the blonde, getting some of his soda on his face. Will smiled while he wiped the liquid off of his face. Nico was just sitting there, smirking like an idiot.

"Well, it's no surprise that di Angelo is on team Luna," Will shot back jokingly.

"Fight me!"

Will broke out laughing. He even managed to get Pouty McPouty over here to break out in a slightly awkward, yet adorable smile. His laugh that followed was even cuter.

They actually managed to keep the conversation going while they waited. The topic ranged from Ponies to cartoons to favorite movies and songs. They actually had a lot of things in common; one that they found to be quite funny was their shared love for late 90's, early 2000's TV cartoon shows. Teen Titians was one that came up frequently – Nico obviously favorited Raven while Will was more into Starfire. Obvious.

When their food came, Nico was almost sad to see the conversation broken, even if it was about nothing important. They thanked the waiter, and once she left, they started to dig into their food.

Nico took a bite from his food. "What is this?" he asked, trying not to sound too excited.

"Oh, you know, just some spaghetti," Will said slightly arrogantly.

Nico took another bite. "That's racist," he spoke in between chews.

"How is it racist?" Will raised his brow.

"I'm Italian; spaghetti; I'll let you make the connection," he took another bite. "Not bad…" he mumbled to himself.

Will smiled as he took another bite of his own. He had to admit, it wasn't all that bad.

They ate in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The two of them enjoyed their meals; Will even managed to sneak a bite of Nico's while he was zoned-out. He fought back in protest, but didn't make it far when Will went back for another bite. Nico fumed at him, but Will just laughed at him while he tried to feed him some of his on his fork. In the end, Nico was able to get him back when he plugged the hole in his straw and dumped it on Will when he was too busy laughing at Nico. After that, it was Will's turn to raise his voice at the younger and Nico took this moment to laugh at the blonde.

When they were done, both of them had sauce and soda all over their clothes. Will paid for the meal while Nico waited over to the side. The waiter thanked them and handed Will their receipt.

"Let's go," Will said with a skip in his voice as he opened the door for Nico. The younger boy walked through the open door and made his way to the car where Will met him. They got into the car and buckled their seat belt.

"Are we going home now?" Nico asked while throwing his feet up on the dashboard and leaned back in his seat.

"Nah, I think I have something better than that planned," Will chuckled almost darkly as he turned on the car, put it into reverse, and pulled out.

Nico sighed, but decided to go along with it. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he guessed it wouldn't be so bad, judging on how the first part went.

Will put the car into drive and made his way onto the main street. The sky had become much darker and every street lamp had been turned on by now. The atmosphere in and around the car was one that couldn't be described. It was light and fluffy, but also had a heavy, dark undertone. It was one that was uncomfortable, yet relaxing.

They drove for a couple of minutes in the silence that loomed within the car. When they reached a small clearing, Will found a spot to park and got out, went around to the other side of the car, and opened Nico's door. All the while Nico complained. He swatted Will's hand away from him when the blonde tried to help the boy out.

"This way," Will said while taking the lead.

Nico walked slowly behind him with his hands in his pocket. "Where are we?" he said almost annoyed sounding.

"Just a simple place I used to come every now and again," Will spoke with slight longing in his voice. His eyes never left forward as he guided them through a small path. "It's more of a secret than anything else really. Not many people know of this place. It's quite tranquil."

The path was lit with old fashion heat lamps, the stone seeming just as aged. Trees of evergreen lined the path, casting shadows into the endless sea of green. Wildflowers mixed with the colors of the rainbow intertwined with the grass, dancing in even the slightest of breeze.

"How long is this going to take?" Nico asked almost annoyed. It was getting late and he wasn't sure what was going on.

"Just a little bit longer and…" Will said as he took one hand to brush some bushed out of the way and the other to hold onto Nico's once he fished it out of his pocket. Nico didn't fight it too much because his hands were starting to get cold and Will's were strangely warm and soft. "Here we are!"

When Nico stepped through the opening created by the blonde, what he saw was incredible. A full view of the city from atop of a hill was something Nico never thought would take his breath away. The way the moon and the street lights lit up the city made it seem to come alive. Cars and people made their way through different streets and made it seem like small balls of light dancing all around. Light turning on and off was the lighting for the show and it almost brought a small tear to Nico's eyes.

Will sat down and gestured for Nico to follow. He did as he was told and sat down right beside him, close enough to show he cared – even if it was just a little – , but just far enough away that they weren't touching.

"I used to run here when I was little when I was frustrated, you know, little kid stuff," Will joked.

"I had a spot like that when I was little," Nico added almost so quiet that Will almost missed it.

They sat quietly while the watched the night sky and the city below moved all at their own pace. The breeze on top of the hill was a lot colder than Will had expected, and he didn't think it was too bad until he noticed Nico shaking from time to time. The younger boy seemed to be so into the view and the feeling; he didn't notice how cold he was getting. With the temperature dropping as the night went on, the height of the hill and the strength of the breeze didn't help with the chills. So, as a man, Will did what he thought was best and took off his jacket and laid it on top of Nico's shoulders.

The younger boy looked up at the blonde when he felt the weight of the jacket fall on top of his shoulders. Will never looked at Nico the entire time, so when the boy looked over looking for a reason for the sudden addition of weight, he was met with silence.

The stayed there for a little while longer, and as ten approached, Nico couldn't help but start to feel sleepy. He tried to fight it off, but soon he found himself drifting off until his eyes became way too heavy and he let the mood carry him off and he fell asleep.

Will looked over at the younger boy when he felt him tumble onto his shoulder. He laughed at the thought of the fact that Nico didn't like physical contact and here he was, leaning on Will as he fell asleep. He put his arm around the younger boy so he wouldn't fall over. His breathing was soft and slow.

Will stayed like that, holding the dark haired boy, until he rustled himself awake. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking slowly as he slowly came to. Will slipped his arm out from around him and slowly steadied him.

Will stood up and reached his hand out to signal for Nico to take it and follow him and he did just that. He rubbed his eyes as he stood up, grabbing a hold of the blonde's with his free hand. Will led them back to the car through the dark, starry night. He opened the door and Nico got in, passing Will his jacket back.

When they got to Nico's house, the lights were all on in his house. The blonde opened the younger's door and led him to his house's door.

When Nico and Will got to the front door, Nico turned around to face the blonde. He rocked back and forth on his feet, looking anywhere, but at him.

"So…" Will said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well…" Nico's voice trailed off.

"I had fun!" Will spoke a little too loud and a little too quickly.

"Yeah…" Nico's voice became small.

The atmosphere became heavy as both of them just stood there, trying to think of a way for it not to be awkward, well, at least less awkward.

"So…" Will said.

"Yeah…" Nico looked over to the side.

"Well, I guess I'll be going," Will said, pointing towards his car. "So, yah…" Will put his hands into his pocket while he rocked on his heels. He took a deep breath in before making eye contact with the boy in front of him. Will took a final shaky breath, removed his hands from his pocket, and leaned in and kissed Nico directly on the lips.

Nico's face blew up with the color red as he realised what had just happened. Will's lips were soft and that was one thing that Nico never thought he would ever think. Even though he knew what the blonde had eaten right before, he strangely tasted like a mixture of cherry and lemons. Nico couldn't help but slowly kiss him back. Will stepped into the kiss, removing the space between them. He brought his hands up to his face, putting one on his cheek and the other on the back of his neck; slowly bring it down to the base of his back.

As Nico slowly brought his shaky hand up to meet Will's, he heard what he thought was a crashing and what he knew was talking.

"I can't see!"

"Shh!'

"Be quiet!"

Nico brought his hand down to his side before Will could realise and before he would have to accept it himself. Will broke away, as did Nico, when he heard the talking behind the door. He backed up, rubbing the back of his neck again, still not looking at the younger.

"I'm going to," Will backed up, but tripped on his way down the single step of the walk way, "Ow! Go …"

Nico laughed a little when Will tripped, not once, but twice. He watched as Will awkwardly made his way from the front door to his car, got in, and drove away.

When Nico opened the front door, still laughing a little to himself, he saw his entire family, including Annabeth and Reyna, waiting for him either on the couch or in a pile on the ground right outside of the door.

"Yeah… I'm not gonna ask," Nico said before he closed the door, after looking at everyone. He shook his head as he took off his shoes and was making eye contact with his sister Bianca, who was also part of the pile on the ground. His mother just giggled to herself while she took a sip of her tea.

"How was your date, sweetheart?" his mother asked.

"It was…" his voice trailed off as he thought back to the night. He mind started with the drive to the dinner to falling asleep on Will's shoulder overlooking the city landscape, ending with the kiss in front of the door only a few seconds ago, "alright, I guess…"

His mother giggled to herself when her son responded.

When Nico tried to make his way to his room, the girls got up from the pile. "Hey!" Bianca yelled. Nico turned around. "Are you going to tell us what happened?"

Nico looked at her with an odd expression, sighed, and continued up the stairs. When he got to his room, he slammed the door shut and jumped onto his bed. He threw off his coat and just laid there. He let the weight of the day fall over him once again before closing his eyes and falling asleep once more, but this time, staying asleep until the sun broke through his curtains, forcing him awake.

….

 _ **Did you all like it as much as I did?! You better or I'll hurt you! JK, I'm super self-conscious and I need your love or I'll regret my whole life. No pressure. So, about Physics, I feel like we're close enough that I can say that I only had about 3 panic attacks in the girls' washroom on my first day. I'm not gonna lie, I thought it was gonna be more.**_

 _ **I'm not high anymore, so that's a bonus (pain meds from surgery, not actual drugs), but I did start writing another story during my high-ness because of it (I can get shit done, not like I have other things to be working on) I wrote an important paper for my class during that time too, so let's pray to Apollo that it isn't trash.**_

 _ **My cats are assholes, and that's a quick summery of my life up until now. Thank you all for reading! I'm not just saying that, you guys make my day when I'm in class, not doing homework, and I get an E-mail that I got a review or a follower or a favorite and I totally die. If it could, I would give you all cookies and puppies (and better fanfiction. That day**_ **will** _ **come), but for now, goodbye and don't be a douche.**_


	8. Chapter 8- Ponies and Pancakes

_**Smaller chapter, I know, but I'm losing my wifi for a while so I just wanted to get it up for yah! This was supposed to be up yesterday, but life happened and it didn't. Anyone watch rugby? About to head over and watch the finals! I ain't got much to say, but thank you guys! And all to the next chapter!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Don't own any characters. *sad face***_

"Have you guys seen Nico this morning?" Bianca asked as she approached her seat and took a plate of pancakes.

Hazel looked at her sister as she took the spot next to her. She thought for a moment then shrugged. "I haven't, why?"

"I think I heard him humming," Bianca shoved a giant piece of pancake, dripping in maple syrup and a few pieces of chopped strawberries into her mouth.

"Really? That's so unlike him," their mother chimed in as she flipped over another pancake. She brought it over and slapped it on a dark grey plate.

"Yeah, it was kinda weird," Bianca said in a hushed tone as she leaned in over her plate.

"Must be a puberty thing," his father added in as he kissed his wife and grabbed a cup of coffee. Both girls looked at each other and made a disgusted face, sticking their tongue out and everything.

Almost just on cue, Nico came down stairs, humming cheerfully to himself. His family just watched as he came into the kitchen, sat down, grabbed his plate, and started to eat after dressing it with various types of fruits and syrup. He continued to hum as he ate his breakfast.

Bianca started to look at everyone, whom caused the rest of the family to have a non-vocal conversation with one another, each trying to figure out what came over Nico. Each edged the other on, as if challenging one another to speak up first, to ask the million-dollar question. After a few seconds of listening to Nico humming, the sound of pancakes cooking, and Bianca's knee jittering constantly, hitting the roof of the table from time to time, Bianca decided that she would take the lead and speak up first.

"Alright, somebody better start talking before I go insane!" Bianca slammed her hands on the table. Nico looked up, his fork hanging out of his mouth, staring at his sister like a deer in the head lights.

"What?" Nico's fork dropped out of his mouth.

"What are you so cheery this morning?" Bianca poked at him.

"What do you mean?" he asked after shoving another piece into his mouth.

"What's with you lately?" Hazel asked serenely.

"What are you talking about?" He finished his plate, got up, and put it in the sink. He went to the fridge and got out a bottle of water. "Nothing's wrong." He walked away and headed up stairs to his bedroom.

"See, it's like reverse puberty. While Nico is super moody and all doom-and-gloom normally, it would make sense for him to be ecstatic," Bianca and Hazel rolled their eyes. Bianca got up and put her dishes in the sink and went into the living. Hazel just sighed and went back to eating. "What?"

….

Nico turned on his television and lay down on his bed with his laptop. He grabbed the remote as his laptop booted up. He flipped through the channels until he found a show that brought a small smile to his face. The spin-off show, _Teen Titans Go!_ was showing re-runs on one of the television networks. He let it play for a few minutes until he was snapped back into reality.

He continued to scroll through the numerous amounts of television channels until he settled on a re-run of _Doctor Who;_ they always seem to have re-runs playing on the weekend, and it being Sunday, he thought of nothing better than Matt Smith running around in a funny bowtie trying to solve one space problem after another, traveling through time and space.

When he realised that his laptop had finally come to, he pulled up the usual; he checked _Facebook,_ scrolled through _Tumblr_ , hit up _Twitter_ to check out if anything news had popped up – mainly checking the updates to the new _DC_ and _Marvel_ movies. He finished up his daily scroll through the interwebs with checking out the updates from _Comic-Con_. He pulled up the new trailer for the _Suicide Squad_ and gawked over how amazing it looked. He would never tell anyone this, but his favorite character was totally _Harley Quinn_ and the fact that she was coming to the big screen in such an epic event, was sending Nico's inner fanboy – something that he made sure to hide from everyone the moment he entered high school – off the charts.

Nico truly was sad that he missed _Comic-Con_ this year. Most times he misses, usually because of something that comes up, but at least he can get tickets; this year, being one of the only times he could have actually went, he found himself at a loss of said item. He was so upset when he missed them because he was sick and without Wi-Fi, and with his luck, he missed the tickets all together.

Nico was just about to put his laptop away when a message popped up via skype; it was Annabeth.

 _ **WISE-GIRL97**_ _– Hey Neeks, How'd it go last night?_

 _ **DEATH-BOY**_ _– Alright. why you ask?_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _Well, after you got back, you just went to your room and never said anything after that, so I was wondering: Yeah or Ney? (And you better spill about that_ _kiss_ _because I so caught that)_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _Okay I'll spill, but you better not tell Bianca or I swear to Gods I'll kill you_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _First we went out to dinner – which didn't suck, like one bit, but I'll kill you if you tell Water Boy or Sparky,_ _especially_ _Solace – and we talked like normal people, like, normal topics too. I can't believe that he's a Brony, I sooo totally called that one!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _After that he took me to this hill that over looked the entire city – and the view! I think I almost died! Well, I kinda did, almost, well; I did end up falling asleep on his shoulder which that almost killed me! X.X_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _OMG! Neeks! I soooo wish I could have seen it! It sounds soooooo amazballs! He totes likes you! You can't deny the chemistry! You must have been with one another in a past life or something!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY**_ _–_ __ _Don't you dare start up with that crap Anna. He's alright, I guess…_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97**_ _– Come ooonnn, you can't say things like that! Now tell me the rest!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY -**_ _Alright Alright…_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _After we left the hill, we came back and that's where he, you know…_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _DETAILS!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _Fine!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _I guess it was okay… I don't really remember it all too much…_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97**_ _– That's not an answer!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _I WAS GREAT, YOU HAPPY?!_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _Yes and no. Continue! More, more!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _It tasted like cherries, and strangely lemons… I don't know why tho…_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _Wow, the fact that you figured that out means you really like him!_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _Don't push it Anna. It was just_ _one_ _good date. It'll take a lot more than just one semi acceptable date to make me swoon over him and that's if it's really possible._

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _Yeah, yeah. Say what you will, but I think you will come around soon_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _and it better be soon…_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _What?_

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _Never mind… Anyway, I have to go, my own 'Cherry and Lemons' is coming over any minute._

 _ **WISE-GIRL97 –**_ _Bye! :D_

 _ **DEATH-BOY –**_ _Bye…_

 _(_ _ **WISE-GIRL97**_ _has logged off)._

 _(_ _ **DEATH-BOY**_ _has logged off.)_

Nico closed his laptop and sighed. Annabeth was right, it probably was only a matter of time before he- No, he couldn't give in now! This had only just started, and he was no quitter.

He turned his attention to the TV where the re-run of _Doctor Who_ was still playing. He enjoyed this: time to himself with his thought and the brilliant works of the British.

It wasn't long before he heard a familiar sound, which confused him for a second, until he realised that the sound was coming from his phone. He picked it up and was almost surprised who had texted him; Will. He had almost forgotten that he had his number. Nico rolled his eyes to what Will had put as his ID name.

He opened his phone up to read what the text said.

 _ **Will 3 –**_ _Hey. How are your lines coming along? I just wanted to say hi. Hi! I had fun last night. I hope you had fun too cause that would suck if you didn't and I did and I'm rambling aren't I?_

Nico read the message over and laughed a little to himself. He knew this guy was a dork at heart, but this was kind of painful. Nico looked over the message a few times, debating what his next move will be.

 _ **YOU –**_ _Lines are coming along fine so you shouldn't worry too much about those and last night didn't suck… that much_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _Omg I didn't actually think you'd reply. Well at least not right away. I thought it would be like I'd have to wait till like 10 tonight and even that would be a one-word slightly sarcastic reply_

 _ **YOU –**_ _I was debating that. I even had the perfect sarcastic reply in mind too but I guess now you don't get it…_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _Hahaha. That's too bad_

 _ **YOU –**_ _Ikr_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _So what are you doing right now?_

 _ **YOU –**_ _Watching Doctor Who. Why?_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _9, 10, 11, or 12?_

 _ **YOU –**_ _You just think I'm watching the new one don't you?_

 _ **YOU –**_ _11 of course_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _SAME!_

 _ **YOU –**_ _Liar_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _No! It's the one where the siren is kidnapping the sailors when they get injured but in reality she is just taking them so they don't die_

 _ **YOU -**_ _Spoilers_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _I'm sorry. You not that far?_

 _ **YOU –**_ _Idiot, that's strangely the one I'm watching… are you spying on me?_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _Hahaha. I swear it's just coincidence_

 _ **YOU –**_ _I bet… lol_

 _ **WILL 3 –**_ _Well I have to go. My mom is yelling at me to clean my room. Bye!_

 _ **YOU –**_ _See yah_

Nico put his phone off to the side. When he checked the time on his computer, it was barely twelve.

He lay back, relaxing, putting his computer off to the side. He watched the re-run, just letting his mind run. He thought back to what his sister had been saying this morning; had he really been cheery; and if so, why? Was it because of last night? He didn't think of himself as cheery when he got up, but was he really humming? Nico did think something was off, but he didn't think it was that. He just happened to have a song stuck in his head, and maybe that was his way of getting it out. But then why had he never done that before?

All the questions racing inside of his head made it pound.

When the episode ended, he skimmed through the list of recorded shows. After scrolling through it a few times, he decided to pop up _My Little Pony._ He really didn't care if he people made fun of him because of his taste in shows, he liked it and that's all he cared about really.

As he threw on the new episode, he thought back to the night before. He laughed gently to himself when he remembered what Will had said about his favorite pony. He did enjoy Rainbow Dash, but he dared anyone to fight him if they said Flutter Shy was anything less than Best Pony.

A knock at the door pulled him back into reality.

"Hey," Bianca poked her head in, "can I come in?" she asked.

Nico paused his show and nodded to signal 'yes'.

She took a spot at the foot of his bed, resting her head on the wall behind her.

"Are you watching the new episode without me?" she asked in a mocking tone.

Nico threw his grey pillow at her and she swatted it away playfully, laughing softly.

"You don't deserve the new episode after what you put me through yesterday," Nico spoke playfully as Bianca threw the pillow back at him with less force than Nico's throw had been.

"Hey, it's not my fault!" she kicked his with a small amount of force, but not enough to hurt. "You never told me about that; how was it?"

"I'll tell you just as much as I told Annabeth: it was alright."

"That's not an answer!" Bianca pestered him.

"Just like Annabeth…" he muttered under his breath. Bianca pushed him again with her foot, which caused Nico to smile gently. "Anyway, where's Hazel? Shouldn't you have back-up when trying to get info out of me?"

Bianca shrugged. "She had a date with Frank," Bianca wiggled her eyebrows, which cause Nico to laugh again.

"Of course…"

Bianca scanned the room before allowing her sights to set on her litter brother. "You seem… different."

"Oh yeah?" he raised a brow.

"Yeah, you just seem more… softer – gentler."

"Yeah, I know," Nico sighed, "it sucks."

Both sibling smiled and laughed a little. They didn't usually do this kind of thing: heart to heart conversations, but Nico didn't mind them when they happened.

"It's not a bad thing, you know," Bianca added.

"Guess we won't know, will we?"

Bianca smiled. "No, I guess not."

Bianca stole the remote from Nico while he protested. She re-winded the show to the beginning and pressed play. They watched the entire episode of _My Little Pony_ , throwing sarcastic comments back and forth at one anotherthrough the entire episode.

By the time the episode had ended, both were in tears. Their topic had even changed dramatically by the end.

"You know we have to watch the episode all over again?" Bianca said while in tears.

"I know," Nico wiped away a tear. "But honestly, I would so be able to rock Flutter Shy's Grand Galloping Gala dress, and you know it!"

"Yeah, but you could never be able to pull off the hair!" Bianca pointed out.

"Oh yeah?"

"Oh yeah!" Bianca said confidently.

"Alright," Nico said calmly, putting his hands up in surrender. "If you say so."

"Yeah," Bianca slapped Nico's knee and stood up. "I'm gonna go start on my homework before I procrastinate any further. See yah."

"Yeah," Nico raised a hand as his sister exited his room.

He looked at the clock on his phone and smirked darkly. He got up and turned off the TV before grabbing his coat. He ran out of his room and jumped down the stairs. Nico shoved on his black convers'.

"I'm heading out for a few," Nico yelled as he shoved the other shoe on. "Be back soon!"

"Alright, sweetheart," his mother replied.

And with that, he ran out of the house.

…

When Nico returned home, Hazel was already back.

He opened the door and strolled right in like nothing was ever wrong. When he closed the door, his family looked over and gasped.

"Omg," Hazel mouthed, sounding airy.

"Nico," Bianca said, "what did you do?"

 _ **How was it? Small, I know! I didn't get any reviews on the last one so I'm not too sure how you guys felt about it but I hope you liked it as much as I did or that'll be kinda weird… this'll be the last for a while, but ill post as soon as I can, I swear. With life coming up, hope you all are surviving and hope you all got spoopy!**_

 _ **Review, Follow, and Favorite for more somewhat okay chapters!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	9. Chapter 9- Pink is the New Black

_Hey guys! Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday because I know I am! *laughs nervously* but seriously, Christmas is coming up and I thought you might want a new chapter before I cry a little bit and ignore this for another month or so – knowing me._

 _Message at the bottom!_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Don't own characters, like last time…**_

…

"Nico, you are crazy!" Bianca fumed.

"I don't think I am," he added nonchalantly.

"You dyed your hair freaking pink! You are crazy!"

"Well, he did cut it too…" Hazel peeped in.

"Hazel, don't support this!" Bianca howled.

"Thanks, mom," Nico rolled his eyes.

Nico walked over to the couch and jumped down. Throwing his feet onto the coffee table, he leaned back and closed his eyes.

He had dyed his hair pink to prove a point to his sister, but that was really only the spark in the idea. A small voice in his slowly began to manufacture in the back of his mind, only starting out as a slightly rebellious teenage nagging, but over time, even the smallest thought reluctantly started to grow and turn into a full on idea, one that didn't even sound, well, dumb.

When he and his sister had been talking about ketchup and Fluttershy, they had only joked around about what it would be like if Nico did have pink hair, but now, he felt like he was opening new parts of himself, parts that had been locked for his entire life and he was now just starting to find.

"You're losing your mind already," Bianca threw her hands up in defeat.

"Maybe!" Nico replied almost sarcastically. "It's like I'm a whole other person. I get into fights, I have friends; I also dyed my hair freaking pink! Hell, I even kiss boys now! Who knows what I'll do next, I might even join a Volleyball team."

"Volleyball? Really?" Bianca asked judgingly, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Who knows?"

"I thought you hated sports," Hazel sought longingly.

"Well, I hated people too, but as you can see, that didn't exactly work out in my favor. Now, I'm going to bed. Good night."

Nico got up even through the protests of his family. He climbed the stairs and closed his door when he reached his room. After stripping down to nothing and throwing a pair of pants on, he climbed into bed after shutting the lights off and fell asleep instantaneously.

…

Green. Green and blue. Those were the two colors Nico could see.

Walking along the endless emerald, he realized it was grass. The green had been grass, so that would make the blue the sky, right? He could feel every blade as it tickled his feet. He came to the conclusion that he wasn't wearing any shoes when he felt the small drops of dew dampen the bottom of each foot. The blades of grass cushioned each step, engulfing him in a secure feeling, almost that of a cloud.

As he continued to walk forward, he could make out more of his surroundings. There were smaller flowers entangled in the grass. They were pastels hidden in a sea of green.

Nico wiggled his toes, feeling the grass and the new found blossoms in between each and every toe.

Nico looked up. The sky was an endless sea, fading through shades in all directions, a light source present, but not truly locatable.

One step. Two steps. Three steps, and off he went! Nico went running a crossed the pastels and shaved emerald. He picked up speed and the wind blew towards him.

He stopped abruptly. Looking down, he noticed that he was wearing a dress. Only of plain while and of the same material throughout. It came only to tea-length and was airy. Even though he should have minded, he didn't.

Atop his head was that of a flower crown. His hair was still that of its natural color, but the different shades of pink really stood out as various colors bloomed throughout the new head piece.

Jittery, he hopped up and down, feeling weightless.

When he heard a voice, he almost jumped out of his skin, but on the outside, one could not tell. His feelings verses his physical movements were not the same. He turned in all directions to find the source of the voice, but he was not successful on locating it.

When I called again for the second time, he could make out what it was saying. The voice was calling his name. As Nico wanted to be nervous, his body decided he was to be curious. Still looking for the source of the voice, he walked forward and off to the side, tilting his head to see all around to find the source.

The third time was when he recognised the voice. Nico stopped turning around to try and locate the voice; he just stood there, facing forward.

He turned around.

The boy standing there was blonde and wearing a white outfit, just like Nico. The blonde's image still a blur. As regained his sight back slowly, the boy came into focus.

Even against the cerulean background, the boy's striking eyes stood out, reflecting perfectly the light coming from gods know where. His smile was small, but breathtaking.

When he held out his hand, the wind picked up and blew his shaggy a crossed his tan face. Nico's dress waved in the wind, his hair scattered all throughout.

As a tiny whisper of a smile crept onto the face of the blonde, Nico inhaled deeply, feeling all of his worries disappear without a trace.

He could feel his body moving without his control. As he screamed to himself ' _stop!_ ' his body continued to ignore his own wished, pushing himself past what he thought he could do. The cushion of the soft pasture enhanced the bounce of each step.

When he reached the blonde, the boy in front of him held out his hands as Nico ran into his embrace. The taller blonde wrapped his arms around the smaller boy on impact.

They stood there for what felt like forever, just holding one another. Nico looked up at the blonde boy that stood in front of him, the two being almost nose to nose. Looking at one another, staring endlessly into each other's eyes, the blonde slowly started to lean down. Nico wanted to run, he really did, but something was preventing him from doing so.

As the blonde leaned down, inching his face closer and closer, all the dark haired boy could do was close his eyes. Out of his own surprise, he also started to lean forward into the oncoming connection. When the space became close to non-existent, he was positive what was going to happen; he could feel the older boys breathe on his face, and he didn't mind it – strangely.

Just before anything could happen, Nico shot awake by the sound of a buzzing noise resonating. His breathe was heavy and damp, his heart beat racing a million miles a minute. A bead of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"What. The. Hell?"

Nico threw his blanket on the floor and got up. He turned off his alarm with a sigh then proceeded to throw on a pair of pants and a shirt on after smell checking them.

When he got to the bathroom, he managed to beat his sisters to it so he took advantage of this magical moment and quickly closed the door and locked it.

He walked up to the sink and turned the tap. While the water began to circle down the drain, Nico stared at his reflection, contemplating everything. Resting all of his weight on hands, he leaned over the sink, staring eye to eye with his own reflection.

"God," Nico wiped his face with his hand, "What's going on with me?"

He stuck his hands in the free flowing water and splashed some on his face. He rested for a small while before wiping his face with the towel. He slowly let his hands fall, bring the dampened towel down with them.

Just as he got lost in his own thoughts, the door busted open with his older sister behind the attack.

"What the hell are you doing?" his sister asked.

"Well, I was getting ready before you completely ignored the fact that the door was closed. And didn't I lock it?"

"Enough with the trivial things," Bianca exclaimed, "Now, move," Bianca walked right up to him and pushed his out of the way.

"Can't I use the bathroom for once in the morning?" he asked, sounding a little more than upset.

"You're not a girl," Bianca examined her face in the mirror, "So you don't need it right away."

"Thanks for that wonder observation of my gender, sis," Nico rolled his eyes. "Don't think Sherlock could have done it better…"

"Don't need to be so moody," his sister added sounding irked.

"Don't need to be so bitchy and bossy," Nico shot back.

"What's wrong with you this morning?" Bianca asked, slightly annoyed.

"Well, for starters, you didn't have to take over the bathroom when I was using it, and I lock it for a reason," Nico fumed.

Bianca's eyes widened in surprise as her brother talked back to her. One thing Nico never did was being actively aggressive, he was basically the poster boy for passive aggressiveness, and only recently had he begun to fight back without letting it sit in for a few hours at best.

Before Bianca could fight back, Nico grabbed her by the wrist and threw her out of the bathroom, slamming the door in her face.

Bianca just stood there with a dumbfounding look on her face. She was so discombobulated about what just happened that she didn't even notice when her sister, Hazel, walked up beside her with her mom on her other side.

"What just happened?" her mother asked.

"To be honest, I am not even sure," Bianca replied back monotone.

Hazel just giggled a little to her sister's dumbfounded response. "He sure is changing."

"That he is," his mother responded before walking down stairs.

…..

When Nico got to school, he was greeted by Annabeth and Piper.

"Your hair!" Annabeth pointed out with an airy yell, one that could hardly be heard but had enough force to still be made out.

"Hair!" Piper following with the same type of speech.

Both girls continued this quiet yelling contest until Nico started to walk away, heading in the direction of his locker.

"Hey! Wait up!" Annabeth yelled in her normal voice as Nico continued to walk away from her.

Both girls jogged to catch up to the dark haired boy, asking random questions the entire time.

"Why did you dye it?"

"Why do you look good in pink?"

"Did you lose a bet?"

"Why are you so damn fast?!"

By the time they got to his locker, both girls were out of breath from trying to keep up and ask questions at the same time.

Nico opened his locker and started to take things out and put things in.

"Why did you do it?" Piper asked in between breathes.

"Because I wanted to," Nico took out a text book.

Just before Annabeth could open her mouth, shouting from two different people could be heard getting louder.

"No, I'm hotter!"

"Nu-uhh!"

"Fight me!"

"Right here, right now, bruh!"

"Oh gods…" Piper muttered, covering her face with her hand.

"Why?" Annabeth asked to the heavens before wiping her face with her hands.

When Percy and Jason wiped around the corner, Annabeth took her hands away from her face, turned, and smiled sweetly, yet artificial, at her boyfriend and his friend.

"Nico!" Percy yelled while out of breath.

"Nico!" Jason screamed like a girl.

"Oh gods…" Nico muttered before slowly turning around to face the out-of-breath teenagers who were acting like children.

"Who's hotter?" Percy asked airily.

"It's me, isn't it?" Jason cut in while trying to catch his breath.

"Oh look, you dyed your hair," Percy managed to choke up.

"It's nice," Jason stretched his back, "I like it! Oh gods that felt nice!"

"Do I have to answer this?" Nico mumbled.

"Yes!" both boys yelled at the same time, followed by a cough by Jason.

"Why?" Nico asked judgingly.

"Because we can't ask our girlfriends because it would be fixed," Percy informed.

"Then ask some random girl, not me."

"But if we do that, it might not be fair. We have a lot of fans, and anyway, it's better to have it from an unbiased opinion," Jason told the younger boy. "You being taken and gay and everything, you know?"

"Then ask Will!" Nico picked up his voice before slamming his locker.

"Ask me what?"

On the other side of the locker door stood Will, he looked a bit confused on everything. When Nico heard his voice, he almost had a heart attack. He hated when he did that, just standing there until Nico closed his locker door and then saying something and scaring Nico half to death.

"Stop doing that!" Nico yelled. "And nothing," as Nico tried to walk away, he found that he was cornered into his little bubble that slowly was becoming invaded; he was starting to feel like Poland.

"These idiots are at it again," Annabeth informed Will.

"Ah, what is it this time?" Will asked.

"Who's hotter," Piper added, "And Nico's the judge."

"No, I am not!" Nico yelled.

Will raised a brow.

"Really?" Will crossed his arms and leaned back onto the locker, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "Now I want to know."

"No, no you don't," Nico mumbled, falling into himself.

Will chuckled lightly, his shoulders rising being the only indication of so. With a small sigh, he uncrossed his arms and patted his hand on the younger boy's hair.

"I like it," Will smiled.

"R-really?" Nico brought his hand up to his hair shyly, slowly patting it with wide eyes meeting blue.

"Yeah."

Nico slowly averted his eyes away from Will's, but his smile on his face showed he wasn't that mad about it, no matter how hard he tried.

Before anyone could open their mouth, the bell began to ring, signaling the start of the first class. Nico hugged his books closer to his chest before taking off in the direction of his first class.

When he got to English class, he put his books and head on the desk; bring his arms up to cover his obvious blush, trying to conceal it from the world.

He didn't want any of this 'destiny' crap to be real, but he couldn't help but feel something for the blonde. He wasn't sure what the feeling sitting in his chest was, but whatever it was, it was here to stay, and Nico wasn't sure if he wanted it to.

….

Just as the bell for the last class rang, Nico sighed, knowing he had to go to the stupid play practice. He didn't hate it, but he didn't like it to begin with. If he wanted to do this, he would have auditioned; like he ever would even if he did want to.

After grabbing his script from his locker (not that he really needed it, he had been cramming it into his spare time and already memorized every line), he made his way to the theater, opening the doors.

It wasn't time for the actual work to begin, so everyone else was fooling around. Some were looking over lines, doing homework from the day that had just ended, and some were just doing what the hell they wanted to.

Nico wasn't all that close to anybody really, so most of his time spent was looking over the script or doing homework. Rarely did he or anyone else for that matter try and get him to join them. Most of them were just interested in him, trying to get to know him, but with Nico being as anti-social as he was; most of their attempts were futile.

Nico didn't mind all that much. It wasn't that much of a change from his everyday life.

"Oh my God! Did you read the new chapter of Attack on Titan?" one of the girls to Nico's right blurted out.

"Oh my God, yes!"

"Levi and Eren, am I right?" she giggled.

"No, Eren and Levi, duh," her friend replied back, rolling her eyes.

"We can't be friends."

"Fight me!" Both girls were silent before laughing hysterically, falling against one another. "But really, Eren and Levi totes."

"Alright, but let's ask someone else," the first girl informed.

Nico wasn't listening all that much to the conversation because he did tune them out, but when the two girls turned in their seats to face him, he knew that when they were going to ask someone something, they meant him.

"Nico, right?" The first girl asked.

"Yeah," Nico replied back, adverting his eyes to meet their determined glances.

"Eren and Levi or Levi and Eren?"

Were these girls really asking him about his choice of ships? How would they know if he even knows what they were talking about? Not that they were wrong, he did in fact know what Attack no Titan was and did have his own opinion on the ship, but why him?

"Well, I could throw out some excuse about how I don't know what you're talking about, but because I do, I'd have to say Levi-Eren."

Both girls blinked in awe at the boy that sat beside them, their mouths wide open. Nico just turned his gaze back to his homework, quickly marking the page with narrow strides of his pencil.

"Told you!" The first girl pointed out after her initial shock.

"I didn't expect that at all…"

Nico looked over and smirked. He shrugged his shoulders and then went back to his work. He wasn't one for conversation, but lately he didn't really care that much. Who knew?

When his English teacher wandered in, she makes her way to the front of the stage and started listing off a bunch of information that Nico couldn't help but tune out. Hey, it wasn't his fault, he couldn't help it if the words in one ear and out the other.

"Alright, so just so you know, we go on in three days and we already have several people that have pre-ordered their tickets."

The cast members cheered at that.

"Now, with the date so close, today and every day after that we will be doing our run-throughs in costumes. We have the newspaper coming for the next two days for interviews and some quick shots before the performance. She will also be here opening night, before and after."

"So, she's coming to take our photos?"

"Yes, photos and interviews with some of the cast members to see how you guys imagine your characters as your own," Mrs. A informed.

The entire theater boomed with noise, echoing off of every corner.

"Alright, alright, now, can everyone get into costumes and makeup and get ready for a full run through."

When she clapped her hands, everyone dispersed, heading backstage to grab what was needed and heading to different areas to get ready.

Nico slowly got up and walked over to Mrs. A. He didn't exactly have a costume because he wasn't part of the original cast, so was pretty much in the dark.

"Umm…" Nico squeaked shyly, hobbling over in her direction.

She turned around and her eyes grew twice their size.

"What happened to your hair?!"

Nico wasn't sure how to respond. He dyed it, but was that an okay responds? Would she be man at him? Was she already mad at him? In an attempted to find a proper response, he decided one wasn't needed.

"What am I going to do with you?" She asked, mainly to herself, but Nico heard and just shrugged.

"I'm not mad at you, it's just… with the play being so soon, I'm just a little on edge with everything," Mrs. A streaked her hand down her face, stretching her skin.

"I understand. I wasn't thinking."

"No, don't worry about it. I think it adds a little to your character in a way," she winked at him, trying to show that she was still her happy, cheerful self.

"The reason I'm here is because I don't know what I'm doing for costume…"

"Oh, don't worry about that! You'll just use what you can of Leo's and we'll go from there. You two are both smaller framed, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem," she reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder and walking him over to where Leo's costumes had been resting.

He took the bag with a slightly forced smile and headed to the boys' change room.

When he was done changing, he made his way back to the theater and started looking through his script. After looking through a few parts he was still shaky on, he tossed it to the side and made his way to where he was supposed to stand and waited.

"Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Cumberbatch…" Nico muttered to himself, trying to loosen up and relax. Even if it was just a full run through and not the actual performance, being off book for the first time was scaring him more than he wanted to admit.

Taking a deep breath in and out, he looked over where Will was chatting with a few people before taking his place. Something deep down told him to look away before he was caught, but before he could, Will caught his eyes, locking his with the younger boy. He gave him a calming smile before turning his attention back to what he was supposed to.

Nico took in a shaky breath, but it help. His heart beat was coming down to normal and he knew he could do this.

…

When he got home from practice, he heard his older sister screaming from the living room. He looked over to find her and their mom jumping up and down, squealing like Guinea pigs.

"What's up?" Nico asked shaking off his backpack and tossing his shoes to the side.

"It came in!" Bianca yelled back, dancing only slightly.

"Should I ask?"

"My prom dress got here!"

Nico just looked at the two people in front of him and rolled his eyes. Of course Bianca was worrying about her prom dress. She was a senior and prom was coming up, so of course this was what was on her mind. All seniors would be going to prom with their ' _meant to be_ 's, so why wouldn't she be happy? She was a senior just like… oh.

Will was a senior too.

That thought had only just struck his mind, but as he tried to shake it, it only took a hold of his mind, shoving everything else out of the way and placing that small fact above all else.

Why hasn't he talked about it yet? It was next week, right? Wouldn't Will take him? Had he already asked someone else?

Nico shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking about that. He didn't really care for that blonde, but the thought tugged at him deep down, making his stomach turn.

Before anyone could pick up on his uneasiness, he headed up stairs to his room, slamming his door behind him. After today, he just wanted to go to bed and ignore the world. And that's what he did.

…

 _How was it? Short, I know, but I hope it's good. I'm having trouble finding motivation to write, but on a high note, for Christmas I've written you guy's a new story! There will be a new chapter every day until Christmas, and that's when ill post the last chapter. It's pretty great, if I do say so myself._

 _It just a simple 'thank you' present to my fans and for those who wish to experience the 'Kitty experience' for the first time! It's another AU, cuz I can't do anything else. *laughs sadly* A little inside from me to you guys is that it's about Nico, who is an author, and Will, who is an actor. When Nico writes a book that gets published, it soon gets turned into a movie that Will stars in as the main character. The thing is, Nico has been in love with Will as an actor for years and Will has been a huge fan of the author for almost as long. But there's a catch: nobody knows that Nico's the author._

 _I really hope you guys will check it out on the 21_ _st_ _because I've had this stupid idea forever now and is ignoring them pending doom which is finals and Social class to write this, trust me tho, I'd rather be doing this, so hope you check it out!_

 _Kitty out!_


	10. Chapter 10- The Sunny Side of Life

_**Another chapter for all of those who need a small smile and something to do! You guys are the best!**_

 _ **And guess what? It's Wills view!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Don't own characters, just the story.**_

…

There were so many things that Will enjoyed. One being mornings. He loved watching the sun rise; it sent those kinds of shivers up his spin that ended in a ray of warmness spreading a crossed his entire body, calming him and preparing him for the day to come.

He didn't mind sun rises, but something about saying goodbye to the sun made him kind of sad. But all the same, there wasn't much that got under Will's skin.

When he got up that morning, he raced down stairs to make breakfast. When he arrived down stairs, his father already was sitting at the counter drinking a cup of coffee with his mom in the kitchen making whatever she felt was right for today. His brother, Austin, sat beside his father rubbing his eyes.

They weren't twins, but they were born around the same year, making them both seniors. His younger sister, Kayla, was still in bed, like she usually was at this hour, but that didn't matter.

Will took his seat next to his brother and yawned slightly. Not that he was tired, just that he had just gotten up.

His mother placed a plate in front of him before laying eggs and bacon on his plate. In the center of the table was an array of chopped fruits and veggies. He picked up some from both sides, plopping them on his plate.

After a few bites, his mother sat down a crossed from her boys, adding different things to her plate.

"So, how are you boys?" she asked with caring eyes, a strand of blonde hair felt out from behind her ear.

"Good," Austin answered. Will nodded in agreement.

"So, what's the plan for prom?" she never added any fluff to her conversations; straight to the point.

"Dunno," his brother replied.

"Not too sure. Might not even go," Will answered back. He wasn't lying, he wasn't sure if he would.

"Boys, you both are going and that's that."

Austin rolled his eyes. "Me and my friends are thinking of picking up chicks who didn't get asked if we go."

Will's brother was honest to a fault.

"Will?" His mother looked up at him.

He thought about it for a couple of seconds before meeting his mother's eyes.

"Not too sure really, I mean, I want to go."

"Yeah, ever sense you were five," his sister added as she rubbed her eyes making her way to the side her mother sat on.

"Yes, anyway, but I don't know…"

"Just ask him," Austin said slightly annoyed.

"It's not that easy," Will said taking a bite of egg.

His mother looked at him with a cocked brow.

"What?" he asked.

"Ask who?" his mother was curious and this wasn't good. He could hear his father sigh because he also knew what this meant.

"Will adopted a lost little kitten," Austin snickered.

"Not cool," Will muttered.

"A little kitten?" his mother asked, leaning forward after getting Kayla a plate.

"Yeah, a stray," Kayla wasn't helping Will's situation.

Will had told his father that he found the matching number, but left the details minimal. He knew his father wouldn't pry into his love life, but his mother on the other hand was a whole other story.

"Will, why didn't you tell me?" she sounded almost hurt; key word being almost.

"Because you wouldn't let it go."

"But I'm your mom and I want to know these things."

"Well, don't get your hopes up because he isn't much of a people person so things aren't all magical," Will started eating his breakfast again knowing all too well that all eyes were on him.

"Him?" his mom raised a brow.

"Yes mom, now drop it, please. I love you, but not right now."

"Will, I didn't know…"

"Yeah, well, I didn't ask for it, it just happened. More forced, but still," Will wanted for their eyes to be averted away from him at this moment.

The topic of Nico was still a little gray, so he wasn't too sure on where he stood in the whole thing. He wanted to get to know the boy, but the way he reacted to everything Will did was what really confused him. One minute they could be getting along, having a good time, and the next he was ignoring him.

Will tried to shake off the eyes on him, but he knew his family was like him; stubborn.

Before his mother could protest, he got up and put his plate in the sink and left to get ready. When he got to his room, he tossed on something clean and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Before he headed off to school, he kissed his mother on the cheek and ran out the door.

Today was going to be a good day, he could feel it.

On his way to school, he had time to think. He enjoyed thinking while driving to school, it relaxed him. He knew when he got home his mother would drown him in questions. It was his own fault for being too vague in their conversation, but he didn't want to get into it before school, not when he had enough stress with finals and the play to deal with.

Today was one of his last finals: English. Just two written essay and a short story, so it was nothing to fret over.

After his finals, which shouldn't take as long as the time given, he was going to confront Nico and ask him out on another date tomorrow night. He had things he needed to talk with him about and he felt that a date would be better than throwing it in in some random conversation.

When he parked his car in the usual spot, he ran into Annabeth who had been waiting for her boyfriend who usually parks beside himself.

"Hey," she greeted him when he shut his door.

"Hey, waiting for The Little Mermaid?"

"Yeah," she responded with a caring smirk. "Told me to wait for him; he's running late and wants to talk before his final – that you have as well today. Good luck."

"Yeah," he nodded smoothly. "English is strangely one of my best, but poor Perse can't English even if his life depended on it."

Annabeth laughed at that one. She knew it to be true, but didn't want to admit it for it would hurt his heart more than he would let on.

"Pretty much," she regained herself. "But I'm pretty sure I know what he wants to talk about, so I'm just waiting now."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, with prom coming up, he's been way too nervous to even function as a human," she closed her eyes to think back on him these past few weeks – hell, these past few months – and grinned to herself in it that caring way that she does. "He's been so worried about asking me that he's become a nervous wreck. He should know better, I'll always say yes."

Annabeth's words sent a warm feeling spiralling all through Will's body, warming him from the inside. He knew that she was telling the truth. He was going to ask her, and she knew it. Hell, she even went out months ago to be prepared for this, despite being a junior herself. He knew that Percy was a nervous wreck, and would pretty much fail his written today if not getting this burden off of his chest.

But the other things that made Will smile in a more melancholy way was how Annabeth would say yes to that boy no matter what it was. He could ask her to kill a man with him or burry a body and she would do so. She would go as far as humanly possible for that boy, and if that wasn't enough, she would go beyond. They had a relationship that summed up soulmates perfectly. Those two were made for one another.

"Make sure you tell me the stages of his when he asks," Will shouted as he started to walk towards the door.

But he didn't make it too far when Annabeth's words stopped him. "And you?"

He turned around. "What about me?'

"You know what I mean."

Will took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Depends, we'll cross that bridge when it comes."

When he turned to look back at Annabeth, his smile told a story of a hundred words, yet it was unreadable all at the same time.

"Don't burn it," she shouted when Will started to remake his way to the door.

"What?"

"Never mind," she just smiled to herself.

…..

When Will got to the music room (the room he was assigned to do his finals in), he found the desk with his name on it. He scanned the room which held various instruments and sighed, a fainted smile rested homely on his face.

When looking around, it started to really sink in that this was his last year, one of his last times in this room until he would leave it for another. He knew that those thoughts weren't what should be consuming him, but he couldn't help it. With his world he came to know so well was coming to an end, it seemed like he was going to lose a part of himself, if not all. A slow realization became him.

Moments before the bell sounded, Percy came busting in with a smile plastered widely on his face. His face was beat red and he was breathing heavily. Things must have gone well, not like they wouldn't.

When Percy made his way to the seat in in front of Will's but slightly to the right, he turned around with heavy breath.

"Told you," Will didn't even look up at the boy.

"You suck, Solace," Percy stuck his tongue out, not like Will saw, though. "But, yeah, things went perfect, so thanks, I guess."

Will looked up and smiled at the dark haired boy who looked slightly crazy.

He averted his eyes when their teacher entered and started to announce that their final would start in a short while and not to touch the papers in front of them.

…..

The next few hours melted into a blur of words and useless information. He had been writing for so long that his hand cramped up, and by what he could tell, he had wrote through lunch time. He remembers coughing and cracking of knuckles and necks.

Water bottles had been slammed on tables and sighs had echoed through the room enough times to give a man a headache, if he didn't already have one.

When he finished, he couldn't even remember what he had to write about. A story? Yeah, that was one thing. An essay was the other one, at least he thought, but at this moment he didn't care. He had only several simple goals in mind at this moment, and one included getting food.

When he got to the cafeteria, they surprisingly were still open, even with lunch being over. They knew that the ones writing the finals wouldn't be able to get away during lunch, so staying open didn't hurt.

After picking some things up, paid for them, and made his way to a table to scarf down whatever he could as fast as he could. As he made his way to find a table, there were only about several seniors chilling out, some even sleeping. No one really had to attend class after todays, so they were milking it for all its worth.

After a solid five minutes of eating, which, a doctor-to-be should never do, he dumped his garbage and made his way to the only place on his mind: Nico's locker. The bell would sound any minute and he needed to do this. He had a plan and he didn't want to mess it up. It was a flow chart and everything.

When he got to said locker, he pulled out his phone to check the time. He ticked down the seconds like a loser, and when the bell sounded, he sounded as well. It was an old habit he got into when he was in middle school and wanted to go home. He would still do it, but only out of habit and boredom.

It didn't take very long for Nico stop by his locker for fifth class switch out. He wasn't expecting to run into him, that much was obvious by the look on his face as he slowed his pace when approaching his locker.

"At least you didn't pop out of nowhere this time…" Nico faintly mumbled, more to himself, but Will did hear. He smiled at the younger boy's shyness.

"But I love scaring you," Will teased him. He loved doing it because the way the raven haired boys blush exploded a crossed his face was one of the cutest things he had ever seen. When had he started keeping track of all the cute things Nico had done? He wasn't sure, but he knew that at some point he did.

"So, I was hoping to talk to you about something before I head off for a little bit," Will started.

Nico looked up at him, not stopping shoving things into his locker. "So?" Nico asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Tomorrow, go on a date with me."

"Didn't I already do that?" He had a sort of sharpness in his tone.

"Didn't you have fun last time?" Nico didn't respond. "So, tomorrow, I'm stealing you, and you better tell your sister so she doesn't kill me."

"But we have school the next day," Nico tried to find excuses, but Will wasn't having any of it.

"You won't be out ridiculously late, so it won't be a problem. And anyways, think of it as a pre-play celebration type of thing." Nico rolled his eyes, but agreed nonetheless.

Will smiled. "Alright, I'll text you before I pick you up, unlike last time, but Percy stole my phone, but that's a whole other story, either way, I'll text you before I pick you up, so be ready."

Nico nodded his head in agreement. Will smiled, and before he walked away, he kissed the top of the younger boy's head ever so slightly, causing the area to become hot.

Will didn't need to look back to see the redness that engulfed the younger boy's face and his adorable dumfounded look that was scribbled a crossed his face.

…..

As he made his way to his car, he thought over the game plan. That was just step one, and the rest was about to fall into place, he just needed to take things slow, but it would come together and be wonderful, he hoped.

He was leaving to get caffeine before the last dress rehearsal before they performed the play in front of a paying audience. No pressure right?

On his way out, he was stopped by Bianca, Nico's older and protective sister. He had seen her around quite a bit, even having a few classes with her here and there, but he never really had a conversation with her.

He looked side to side to see if she was ganging up on him, but it seemed all clear, for now.

"Umm, hi?" Will asked.

"How are you doing Will?" she scanned him.

"Alright, can't complain really," Will was unsure of where this was going and he wasn't too sure if he wanted to find out.

"Good," she eased up. "I bet you know why I'm here."

"Umm, maybe?"

"Well, do you or do you not, boy?" Bianca was starting to scare Will a little bit.

"I'm honestly not sure," and he really wasn't.

"Alright, I just wanna say that if you ever hurt my little brother, I will kill you," she looked him directly in the eyes, not breaking her poker face. "He's been hurt before, so if you make him cry in anyway, I will snap your neck, got it?"

Will nodded his head and watched as she smiled in approval and walked away. Before she got too far, she turned around.

"Oh, and FYI, Nico really likes blueberry muffins," she smirked then walked off once more, not stopping this time.

 _Note to self_ , Will thought to himself, _Don't ever piss of Bianca di Angelo._ Ever _. And Nico likes blueberry muffins._

….

When he strolled into class with a cup of coffee and a muffin, he knew he was late once again when everyone was already sitting down in the audience while Mrs. A gave her pep talk.

"Sorry," he muttered but not to embarrassment. He was used to coming in late, and after all those late entrances, you learn a thing or two. One being that you should always bring her something and he did just that.

He held his coffee between his teeth and hauled out a cookie from his bag and handed it to her. Removing the coffee from his mouth back to his hand, he gave her a smirk.

"Solace," she raised a brow.

"Yes?" he asked sweetly, innocent even.

"Go sit down."

"Yes, Ma'am," he took an empty seat next to his sister who cursed him out for being late, once again.

Once she finished her pep talk, everyone went their own ways to get ready. Apparently the reporter will be coming back again to look over their practice once more before the show. Will didn't have a problem with it, she seemed nice from what he could tell from yesterday, so he didn't care.

When he had his costume on, he noticed Nico talking with the blonde hair reporter. He had a softer expression on his face that seemed natural; something Will had only seen a few times.

A small smile tugged on Will's lips as he watched the two interact. He wanted to know what she was asking and how he would respond. The way his face played made Will want to know even more.

So, being his usual nosy self, he grabbed the muffin from his seat and walked up.

"-something about a couch, I think," Nico answered.

"Hey, Nico," Will walked up.

"Oh, hey," he responded timidly. The reporter didn't say anything, she just watched, wondering why the blonde boy made him jumpy.

"Got you this," he set the muffin, which was still in a brown paper bag, on his lap.

When Nico opened it, his face lit up. There was a spark in his eye that could light up a room, but when he remembered there were other people around him, he quickly looked away and muttered a quick 'thanks'.

As Will turned to leave, knowing that he wouldn't get anything out of this, he was stopped by the reporter. "What is your two's relationship?" she asked.

Will just blinked at her. "What?" He asked.

"Sorry, but I noticed the way you two interact with one another and got me thinking," she had a quick eye.

"Oh, nothing really," Nico muttered as he moved his hands to have his wrist covered by his thumb.

She noticed that though, and looked over at Will wrist and saw his number due to his rolled up sleeves.

"Ohh, that makes sense," she said with a soft smile as her eyes darted between both boys.

"What does?" Will asked slightly confused, but caught on. He looked down at his wrist and rubbed it against his pants. "Oh."

"That's cute," she beamed while Nico looked like he had inflated in on himself.

"Sorry for interrupting you two, I'll be going now," Will waved before attempting to walk away again. Nico flashed him what he thought was a smile, or it could have been a plea for help or a glare, he couldn't tell.

When he got back to his seat, he picked up his coffee. His sister walked over with her arms crossed and a smirk plastered all over her face.

"Oh, shut up," Will shot at her. She just laughed it off.

….

 _ **I can relate to Will and Bianca on spiritual levels. Nico's already my spirit animal, so… Hope you all love this chapter because I wanna die a little. But that's just me and with my own finals coming up, im in the state of panic that is almost like you're clam but dying inside.**_

 _ **So, funny thing, a lot of things I wrote about revolving around this play is true, or has become true in the time between finishing this chapter and my own play. And for those who do read this small section, our own play, Game of Tiaras, Game of Thrones meets Disney princesses with King Lear thrown in, ended yesterday, and we sold out on the last night! We are sellout!**_

 _ **But Allen Rickman also died yesterday so the entire cast was crying for two reasons.**_

 _ **Moment of silence please.**_

 _ **But I hope you guys liked this chapter as much as I liked writing it. Pay attention to what Annabeth said at the end because even thought I wrote this chapter and the next one almost a month apart, I ended up making some connections, so hope you guys get them next chapter. Two more chapters until the play so get ready!**_

 _ **Thank you all for reading this! It means a lot to me. More than you even realise! Getting those notifications of follows and favourites are amazing. Those emails of reviews make my day like you guys don't realise. When I'm having a shitty day, I open the folder I have of them and read them. you guys mean the world to me. And a small shout out to those who live in Argentina because there's strangely a lot of you that read this. Love from Canada!**_

 _ **Please check out my other work Side Friend and How About No? for more of me if you enjoyed it!**_

 _ **Follow, favourite, review please! Means the world!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	11. Chapter 11- Night of Lights

_**Another chapter? And so soon?! Who is this?!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER**_ _ **: Don't own the characters, just the story.**_

….

Nico didn't like Mondays, but today wasn't Monday, it was Wednesday; even worse. Wednesday was like a sad reminder that the week was only half way done and you still had two more days of school to deal with. Mondays suck, but Wednesdays sucked even more.

Of course, you could be one of those 'glass half full' kinds of people and see it as two days down, but Nico wasn't a glass kind of person. So, when he woke up that morning, he sighed and heaved himself out of bed and into the shower.

When he came down stairs for breakfast, he had his towel draped a crossed his shoulders, one hand grabbing it and drying his hair off. The smell of cooked bacon and toast filled the air, sending waves of hunger rippling throughout Nico's body.

After his mom placed his plate in front of him, he scarfed every last bit down before hauling out his text book and last-minute studying.

With his finals rearing their ugly heads around the corner, he was cramming every chance he got into his books. If it wasn't memorizing lines, it was memorizing the chemical makeup of whatever the hell was written on the page. He had so many things crammed into his head, they all started to blur together into one big jumble of words.

Just before he had to leave for school, he threw his things together and headed towards the door. He had informed his parents that he would be out tonight with some friends, a half lie that they believed. He knew that Bianca knew better than to believe something so silly, but she pushed it aside, letting her little brother have room to breathe and grow.

As he put on his shoes, he couldn't help but let his mind wonder. If it wasn't on science, it was math, English, lines of the play, or, strangely the most common thing that has been popping up in his head lately, Will.

He wasn't too sure if he was happy or excited or just plain scared for tonight, but every emotion that did pop up, made his stomach do flips. That boy could just look at him funny and send him into a world of butterflies. It wasn't like there was anything really special about the blonde senior, but something about him always left a bubbly feeling, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.

When he arrived at school, things seemed pretty normal. Well, as best as they can get in a high school. Girls seemed pretty happy with prom and grad right around the corner. Couples were making out in the middle of the hall, and like usual – for some reason – there was one up against Nico's own locker. Why that happened, he didn't know. Perfect make-out spot? Nice breeze? Who knew?

So, like every socially awkward high schooler, he slowly inched his way closer to the locker until one of them got the idea and moved two lockers down. That happened more often than one could realize.

He got to school earlier than he wanted to, but oh well. In the midst of collecting his books, he realized something about the school seemed brighter. Not in a 'they changed the lights' brighter, but the atmosphere seemed to almost change around him. With summer right around the corner, who wouldn't be lighter in spirit?

Just as he was just about to stuff his last book into his arms, a familiar voice broke him of thought. When he looked over, he saw Piper walking towards him, waving her hand. He wasn't sure why Will's friends instantly meant that they were his, but for whatever reason, they seemed to think that, and he didn't really care all that much.

Nico decided to wave back as she got closer. The smile that appeared on her face was one that Nico couldn't help but crack a small smile for. She most likely wasn't expecting Nico to return the favor, much less acknowledge her back.

"What's up?" Nico asked when she bounced her way over.

"Oh my god! You'll never guess what!" She sounded slightly out of breath.

Nico raised a brow; she wasn't too bad, so he didn't mind Piper, liked her actually. "What?" He bit back.

"I was nominated for Prom Queen!" She shouted, jumping up and down. Nico couldn't help but smile at that.

"Really? Congrats," Nico said enthusiastically.

"Thank you! Wow, I can't believe it! I think I might die!"

"Don't die; if you do then the whole ordeal will be for nothing, kind of counterproductive if you ask me."

"You're right, if I die, then it would have been all for nothing," she joked back. Piper examined Nico head to toe. "So, what about you?"

Nico closed his locker and leaned back, happy that Will wasn't behind it to scare him half to death. "What do you mean?"

"You know…" Piper bit her lip, not sure how to continue. "How are things with Will?" She tried to get onto a different topic instead of the one that was previously going after an awkward silence arose.

"Dunno," Nico shifted his shoulders.

"Oh," Piper wasn't sure how to press forward. But before she had to, the sound of yelling echoed within the halls. "That's my cue," she turned to leave. "See yah." She waved as she walked away.

Nico smirked quietly to himself, shaking his head while going through his books before heading off to English class for his final.

"Hey," a smooth, familiar voice said.

"Hey," Nico replied without looking up to meet the others eyes, "Will."

"How are things?" He asked trying to start up a conversation.

Nico leaned on the side of his locker and met the other boys enchanting eyes. He gave him a sideward smile, shrugging with a singular shoulder. "It's… okay, I guess."

"Oh," Will wasn't the best at conversation that was for sure.

When Will looked over the younger boy, Nico had his arms crossed, rubbing his arms with his hands ever so slightly. Will found this odd. It was quite hot out, yet Nico seemed to be shaking. Will pondered this, thinking if he should bring it up.

"You cold?" He asked with a caring smile.

"Hu?" Nico wondered, slightly confused at the sudden topic. "Why would think that?"

"You're shivering and it appears as if you're trying to warm yourself up," Will added.

"Oh," Nico said in low voice, head down. Nico averted his eyes in attempt to prevent dismiss or at least lessen the intense blush the broke out on his face. "Yeah, I tend to get cold really easily."

"That's not good."

"Don't think I would do fine in Canada," Nico joked.

"Yeah," Will cracked up slightly thinking about Nico freezing in Canada with his cheeks and nose a cherry red.

Nico entered his locker combo and pulled out an emergency sweater. Yes, he knew that it was stupid to own a backup sweater at school for no reason in the start of summer, but hey, Nico wasn't normal and people were okay with that. Well, for the most part.

Not to get sentimental, the sweater was his father's from high school, and because Nico was blessed with the body type of his mother, he was border-line swimming in it. When he tried to pull the neck hole over his head, something went wrong and he got his arm stuck. He struggled for a little bit with Will doing his best not to laugh loud enough for the younger to hear.

After a few semi-pathetic attempts to break free from the sweaters evil grip, Will decided it was better to step in and help. He tussled with the sweater a little bit, pulling side to side. When Nico was able to slip his hands into the right sleeves – unlike that short moment when Nico tried himself and had it on backwards – he pulled the sweater down onto the boy's smaller frame, the hood falling over his face. Will lifted the hood from his face, revealing a slightly pissed Nico underneath.

"Hey there," Will joked softly.

"This thing is so big," Nico huffed in frustration. He straightened out the rest of the sweater so it hung loosely over his shoulders, swallowing his body whole.

"It's because you're so small."

"Fight me."

Will laughed at that. The thought of Nico, as tiny as he was, trying to pick a fight with him put a small smile on his face. Now, Will already knew that Nico could fight – if seeing the after mass of Luke and Nico's little 'get together' was enough to go on – so he knew that getting Nico to mad wasn't the best idea, but still.

As Nico fiddled with a loose string hanging from the hem of his sweater, the bell sounded for everyone to get to class.

"See yeah," Will waved as Nico made his way to class.

Nico made his way through the sea of people, his eyes still wondering back to where Will leaned against the lockers. Due to him not looking where he was going, he tripped over a freshmen's foot, causing him to drop his books and slam his face into the lockers near.

As Nico sat up rubbing his nose, Will decided that this was his cue to leave before anything else happened. After collecting his books, Nico looked around hoping to God that nobody saw that. He sighed and headed off to one of his many finals.

…..

Nico wasn't lying when he said he never wanted to hold – much less see – another pencil in his life.

His wrist was hurting from the constant small twitches of the pencil strokes. His back was killing him due to being bent over his desk for hours on end trying to figure out what the hell the true meaning behind William Shakespeare's work, ' _People Falling in Love With People They Just Met',_ and don't forget about the classical favorite, ' _Everyone Dies'._

Now, by the time the end of the day rolled around, Nico wished his eyes would stop reading and just let him be stupid for five seconds and not try to find the overall average of a train going really fast in some direction racing a fat guy on a jet pack; ironic how when you study for finals, the more you feel stupid afterwards.

After his long, hectic day, Nico didn't even care he had a 'date' with Will, if anything, it would be a nice brake from all this chaos. The thought of getting away from his family with their judging eyes and his school work with its judging numbers, getting away was a relaxing thought all of its own.

He made his way over to the cafeteria. This was the usual with him and his sister when they finished finals. Because they went home together, they would meet up there and wait for the other before heading out.

When he entered the eating hall, he scanned the area diligently for Hazel, but upon coming up with no match, he spotted someone else, someone he debated going over and sitting beside. But, of course, with the amount of shits Nico was giving at the time, he decided that why the hell not, and made his way over to Will Solace.

Will jumped slightly at the sudden addition of a new body being present. He was so immersed into his book, that when Nico had joined him, it pulled him into reality. He looked down at the boy whom, in the heat of the moment and with the weight lifted from his shoulders with finals almost done, leaned on his shoulders and closed his eyes. Will smiled.

Normally Nico would not even as so much as to admit that he just leaned on Will, but the fact that he had done it in school was a whole other thing all on its own. If he hadn't of been tired, there was a good possibility of him not even thinking of doing such a small, yet loving jester in public, but because of the overwhelming exhaustion that had been thrown upon him, he allowed himself to do just that, not give two damns that Will was not even alone.

Will looked up at his two friends that were sitting with him. Annabeth was pretty chill with the whole thing, she even debated texting Rayna, but with her being in finals, she thought against it and just stuck with saving this small moment of improvement on Nico's part. But, of course, it wasn't just Annabeth that was sitting, no, it had to be Luke.

Now, the two boys were pretty chill after the whole Nico beating him up in front of everyone, but it still wasn't exactly full of friendship either. With years of torture still under his belt, Nico wasn't exactly too keen on being around him for long periods of time.

"Done your final?" Annabeth asked after observing.

Nico nodded with his eyes still closed.

Annabeth smiled at the easy look on Nico's face. She could tell he was at ease.

"Of course di Angelo would cuddle up next to Solace," Luke jumped in sarcastically. "Bet he couldn't go without him for so long-"

Nico kicked his lag from under the table, not showing a hint of remorse what-so-ever as Luke complained and rubbed his knee.

"The fuck di Angelo?!"

Annabeth just laughed as Luke continued to pout while Will shook his head as he was already back to reading.

Luke continued to complain until Thalia made her way over and wrapped her arms round his neck from behind.

"Aww, did Nico beat you up again?" She cooed softly into his ear, trying not to laugh as he tried to protest, but was only shot down when Thalia started to laugh again at his attempted to cover it up.

"You guys are mean!" Luke whined.

"You're such a baby," Annabeth complained while shaking her head.

After a few attempts of trying to fight back, Luke got up and followed Thalia out of the cafeteria when he realized he couldn't win this fight.

Nico remained leaning on Will's shoulder, listening to his breathing as his arm moved with the fall and raise of his chest. It was soothing and he wasn't ready to get up until Hazel and Bianca both dropped by, taking the spots empty beside Annabeth.

Nico wasn't fully aware of them until he heard a few more giggles coming from a crossed the seat then he expected. When he opened his eyes, his sisters had the biggest, dorkiest grins plastered on their faces like idiots. He knew he wasn't going to hear the end of it, but oh well.

"You ready to go, or do you wanna stay with Solace?" Bianca teased.

Nico rolled his eyes as he removed his head from his shoulder. Will let out a small sigh of displeasure, but he went along with it knowing that it had to happen.

As Nico picked his things up from where he slung them when he sat down, he followed his sisters out, hitting Bianca upside the head on their way out.

"Hey!" She yelled, laughing at her younger brother's response. She had it coming, and she knew it.

As they made their way home, Nico was debating whether or not to tell his sisters exactly what was going on once they got home. It wasn't that he didn't like telling his sisters his plans, it was his privet life and they didn't need to know everything about it, you know? So he decided against the idea of informing his sisters and continued to leave them in the dark.

Once they reached the last stretch of the way, Nico's phone with off, buzzing from his pocket. He reached down and pulled it out.

 **WILL**

 _ **New Text Message**_

He smiled softly to himself, hoping that his sisters hadn't caught on. He shoved the phone back into his pocket for when he got home because they were practically two seconds from their door step.

When they got into the house, Nico threw his bag done, kicked his shoes off and headed upstairs to his room where he jumped on his bed and opened his phone up once again.

 **WILL –** _Hey. Just wanted you to know to be ready for 5_

Nico smiled at his screen. He read and then re-read the text over and over again, wondering if it would change into something else or if he would send any more.

 **YOU –** _Aight_

Nico was just about to throw his phone down to the bottom of his bed when he thought about something. He quickly re-opened the screen and quickly sent him another text.

 **YOU –** _Mind not coming to the door? Dont want sisters to know really…_

 **WILL –** _Aww. You scared of your sisters?_

 **YOU –** _…_

 **YOU –** _Yes_.

 **WILL** – _Alright, but you better be ready at 5 or I'm coming in, got it?_

Nico sighed dramatically then laughed quietly to himself before calling himself an idiot.

 **YOU –** _Dont worry mom. Ill be ready at 4 45 if you want. Lol_

 **WILL –** _Hahaha_!

 **WILL** – _Whatever works for you_

Nico stared at his phone for a few seconds before aping away on his phone.

 **YOU –** _Ok_

He turned off his phone and tossed it to the side, not knowing how to continue a conversation. He didn't think it necessary due to the fact that they would be together in only an hour or two.

'Be together.'

Huh.

Nico found it odd that he could think of something so casually and not be affected by it as he would have been not too long ago. His sister was right. He was changing, but for the first time in a long time, it was for the better.

Nico decided not to dwell on it too long, for he had a math final in the morning, and with his hectic week that was soon to follow, he decided that the best course of action would be to tackle some studying before he had to leave, for when he came back, he would most likely look over his lines, cry a little, and fall asleep to the sounds of his own thoughts. He was weird like that.

…..

About a good solid hour or so of studying of math (how does one even study math anyways?) and Nico was ready to jump out a bridge. Pass his test? No way! But at least he'll go down doing a backflip.

When he flipped on his phone, it was roughly 4:38 and he decided that now was as good as any to throw his math textbook on the ground and ignore its existence for the rest of the night.

He wobbled over to his closet, yawning as he yanked his closet door open. He looked around, throwing some things to the ground before sighing. Why was he so nervous on what he wore? It's not like he woke up every morning thinking about it, so why now?

Was it because that Will would be the only one that cared and not the entire school? Why was he worried? He had done this before and it went off without a hitch, so why was it so hard now? Was it because he had four girls decide everything for him?

His head hurt, so he went with the usual. He was going to change, yes, because he was wearing his I-have-a-final-today-and-I-don't-give-a-shit-if-I-look-like-I-just-crawled-out-of-hell clothes and thought that maybe he should look like he cared. They weren't exactly at the 'Netflix and Chill' stage, so dressing not like a slob might be the best idea. And anyways, he'd have to learn to dress himself for these kinds of things anyway, so why not start now.

After understanding the daily struggles of his sisters, he narrowed it down to three shirts and two pairs of pants.

He had them lying out on his bed when Bianca came in.

"What are you doing?" She asked in a knowing tone. She crossed her arms and leaned on the door frame, waiting for her brother to respond.

Nico knew she probably already knew what was happening and would either kill him or find out then kill him, so he knew he had to give in.

"Just… Just trying to get dressed, I guess," his voice softer than he expected.

"Well, you need my help?" Her voice was calm and understanding. Nico knew he didn't deserve any of his sisters.

"No," he shot, "I need to learn to do this myself, so if you keep helping me out, I'll never learn and I'll be a useless ass."

Bianca laughed musically before shaking her head, her eyes still smiling.

"You sure you got it?"

"Yeah," Nico waved his hand at her without even as much as looking at her direction, eyes still glued on the clothes spilled out in front of him.

Bianca watched as her brother frantically moved his hand to hover over on shirt to another, an unsure look appearing on his face, one that almost made him look constipated.

"Here," Bianca kicked herself off of the door frame and went over to her brother. She had had enough of watching him suffer. She picked up the shirts off his bed and went to his closet. "Put on the seconds pair of pants."

Nico just watched her. He was going to protest, but to be honest, what did he know about fashion? So, he just let her go and do her thing. Watch and learn.

Bianca wasn't sure how far back in the closet she had to look for what she pulled out, but she did know it was so far in that she could easily make a joke about her brother. When she emerged from Narnia, she threw a simple white T-shirt and a dark purple unbuttoned button-up at her brother and told him to put them on.

Bianca made a mental note to get her brother some new clothes as soon as possible. And teach him fashion.

After a few minutes, Nico was sent to the bathroom to finish getting ready. He was brushing his hair from side to side, ruffling it in different ways, but of course his hair had to be slightly to long to do anything, so when Bianca came in, she grabbed two bobby pins from her make-up bag and grabbed a small section of bangs and pinned it back, making an X with them.

When Nico looked in the mirror, he was expecting to see something horrifying, like a monster or a girl, but he was surprised that even with his hair pinned in such a way, it didn't look girly. If anything, it looked a little punk, but in a cool way. He had just enough of his bangs falling over is face that you couldn't see his forehead, so that was a relief. All in all, he looked kind of cool.

When he checked his phone, he noticed that it was basically five, so he thanked his sister, grabbed his phone and rushed out of the door, forgetting his jacket behind.

He busted his ass down the steps and when he reached the sidewalk, he looked side to side, noticing Will leaning against his car just two houses down.

When Nico made his over, Will looked up from his phone and smiled. He wasn't sporting his usual leather jacket, but it was a button-up black fleece jacket that almost looked a little big. Even though it was summer, he had a light grey, thin scarf tide around his neck with tints of navy blue that brought out the colour in his eyes. He wore simple jeans that looked worn out in the knees, but well-loved and cared for.

"Was about to come get you," Will shoved his phone back into his pocket with a smile.

Socially awkward Nico activate!

"Yeah, well, you know…" Nico just shoved his hands into his pocket while shrugging nonchalantly. Will just smiled as he opened the car door as Nico got closer before heading over to his side. "Thank you…"

When both parties got into the car, Nico buckled his belt and leaned back, closing his eyes.

Will started the car and put it in drive, pulling away from the curve and making his way down the street. The entire time Nico pestered him in the destination, but Will only laughed. Nico would pout, but that only pushed more laughter out of Will's lips.

Up and down, left and right. Nico was starting to lose track of the amount of turns they made and where they were all together. He was beginning to lose all hope until bright lights of all different colours echoed a crossed the sky.

Nico sat up and looked out the window, unknowing of the pair of eyes that were watching him with a smile. He face lit up when he saw where they were; the Fair.

When Will found a parking spot – which was quite close to the entrance – Nico ran out of the car, almost tripping on his way out. Will had to take him by the wrist like a child just so he wouldn't run off because gods knew he would the moment he got the chance.

It wasn't often, but there were a few times that Nico would act like a child. And this was one of them. When waiting in line, he realised that Will was watching him, a smile painted on his face. He stopped all together, withdrawing himself from the feeling. He knew it was a stupid feeling, one that he really shouldn't care about when around Will, but ever sense he started to notice Will – more in the way he never thought possible – he seemed almost self-conscious. He started worrying how he saw him, worrying if he was being stupid. He knew it didn't really matter, but it felt like it did.

He adverted his eyes, trying not to make eye contact.

When Will paid for their tickets, both him and Nico made their way around, checking out the area before settling in to one. Nico's hands we shaking from excitement. He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet with a small skip in his step.

They wondered around talking about nothing and everything, going from one ride to another. Will tried to convince Nico to avoid the roller coaster, but the pink haired boy wouldn't budge. He wanted to ride it and he wasn't taking no for an answer, especially from his boyfriend.

Could he call Will that? His boyfriend? Were they even dating? He guessed he could say they were, but they never held hands. They had kissed once before, so would that count? They have been on dates before, so there's also that.

Some people would say that they were, but that didn't matter. It only mattered if they would call it themselves. Nico would never have to confidence to do such a thing, so he would never know unless the blonde said so himself.

He tried to shake the thought away by pulling Will to the next ride.

They had been everywhere, yet Nico was only getting started. He loved these things. It was starting to get dark. Time was passing but it felt like it would never end; he didn't _want_ it to ever end.

Nico sat down on a bench while Will grabbed something to drink for the both of them. It was fun, but his feet were starting to hurt, so when Will suggested a brake, even though he protested, he was grateful for it.

"Just get me anything," Nico replied when Will asked him what he was in the mood for.

It wasn't that long of a wait, but thought flooded his mind. He had shaken all the feeling of insecurity away when they had gotten there, but now that he was alone and didn't have anyone there to keep his thoughts from floating way, he found himself thinking too much into things that he shouldn't have to.

"Here." Will offered what was in his hand to Nico as he sat down.

"Thanks," Nico mumbled, freeing himself from his thoughts once again by the presence beside him. It was reassuring.

"God, my feel hurt!" Will leaned back sighing loudly with slight sarcasm in his voice to lighten the mood.

"I know what you mean," Nico replied while taking a sip of his pop. It was refreshing. He hadn't realised how thirsty he had been before the sip.

They sat in silence for a while; nothing unbearable, just comfortable silence. Will had come to learn that the younger boy wasn't full of words, he was more of an action kind of guy; _a picture speaks a thousand words_ , so to speak.

"So," Will started, leaning on his knees, "you nervous about opening night?"

"I'll burn that bridge when we get to it."

"Burn the bridge?" Will asked, straightening his back and turning his upper body to face the younger boy a bit better.

"Yeah," Nico looked up at him, "it's a malaphor."

"'Malaphor?" Will repeated.

"It's a blending of idioms or clichés." Nico shifted to face Will better, using his hands as he talked. "It's a mixing of 'I'll cross that bridge when I get to it' and 'don't burn your bridges."

"That's kind of sad to put it. Doesn't it mean you think you'll fail before you get to it?"

"Yeah, kind of."

Will shifted again on the bench. "Nico, you'll do fine."

"Well," Nico muttered, "only time will tell. But with most things, I'll only mess up."

"Hey, that's not true! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't even have a final product for you to mess up!"

"That's a very optimistic view on a pessimistic problem."

Will laughed wholeheartedly. Nico had a weird sense of humour and view on the world, but he enjoyed it.

Will rubbed his hands on his pants, trying to get read of the sweat that was building on them. He took a deep breath, trying to relax him for a second. His knee bounced slightly as he tried to clear his head and get the right words to fall into place in his mind before he opened his mouth and made a fool of himself.

"So," he started, knee still shaking as he turned to face the boy once again, "I was wondering if"- sniff -" if you would, umm… you know," he struggled to get the words out.

Nico hesitantly put a hand on the blonde to calm him down. He wasn't sure why he was jumpy, but he was curious to know. "Will?"

"Yeah?"

"Breathe."

"Right," Will replied sheepishly. He took a deep breath once again and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he looked into the younger boy's. They were so dark it was, at times, it was hard to tell were pupils started and iris stopped; the eyes that seemed to tell a story with a simple flash; the ones that had a way of drawing someone in and never letting go. He took in the sight one last time. "Nico, would you," Will started to talk slowly, making sure he was saying the right words, "like to go to… the prom with me?"

Nico just stared at the boy. He blinked a few times before realising what he had said. Had Will actually just asked him to prom? Nico wasn't even a senior and here was this boy whom only just found out about him on a personal level asking him to prom, something that people who were seniors got to do.

He had been thinking about this one thing for the longest time, starting with his sister, Bianca, whom also got to go to said prom. He knew that she was going because she was a senior, but so was Will, so it bugged him to no ends – even if he would never admit it – because that would mean that he too would be able to go, and most likely go because he was also up for prom king along with his friend.

Will's friends were going, so why wouldn't he? Because he has a boyfriend that's younger than him? That. That right there is were Nico froze. He was his boyfriend, right? So why wouldn't he go with him? Their relationship had only just started, if he was being honest, and even before he met him, there wasn't much time in between for them. Wouldn't he have someone else to go with? He was popular so it wouldn't have been a great leap on his part.

So why ask Nico? Why was he nervous to ask him? He should have had a date for the event beforehand. But here he is, with sweaty palms, staring at Nico nervously, looking like he's going to pass out if Nico doesn't say something soon, asking the boy he hardly knows to go to prom with him even though he could pick almost any girl – or guy for that matter – to go with him.

Nico swallowed, his mouth and throat dry. He nodded slowly at first, but when Will's face lit up, he couldn't help but nod a few more times before burying his face in his knees after pulling them up and wrapping his hands around them.

Will's smile was so bright it put the sun to shame. If there was ever a time Nico ever really questioned his 'soulmate' link with him, times like this would only prove how even more wrong he had been.

Nico could feel his face catch fire from the level of heat he could feel. His ears were already burning.

They both didn't say anything after that as they continued through the park. The beginning moment after the final words had been the two of them mulling around the park looking at ride and side games that different families were playing.

After a few moments in, Nico started to shiver, and it didn't go unnoticed by the blonde. He chuckled softly at the small jester before taking his own coat off and pulling it over the small boy, not meeting his eye even when he looked up at him.

The night went on as if nothing had happened, but the mood was lighter and Nico ended up opening up to the blonde a bit more than he thought. As Nico rambled on and on about himself, Will only stood back with a smile painted on his mouth and watched the boy move his hands wildly around trying to get his point a crossed.

"You see the problem with being five foot three," Nico started, "is that there is a whole other world up there that I don't know about!" Nico waved his hands above his head frantically.

Will laughed at the boy as the two of them stood in line for their last ride of the night. It was starting to get dark, and with the play and finals the next day, they decided on the Ferris Wheel to wrap up the night.

When they got to the front of the line, they got their seats and got locked in. The rode slowly started to rise and go around, stopping to let other passengers on.

When it stopped at the top, the two were facing the sunset. It was almost like the sky was on fire, burning up clouds, sucking in the colour until leaving nothing but the faint dust of white. It was magical.

As the ride started up again, Will found the boy beside him leaning on his shoulder; the light hitting his eyes in the perfect way as he stared out at the burning horizon. With his hair ruffled by the wind – fluffy pink wisps – leaving it in his eyes, and the oversized jacket hanging off of him, it was a sight that Will would never forget. The light of the setting sun added a soft glow to his cheeks, adding more colour to his already pale lips. The light reflected off of his long eye lashes, bringing out the deep hazel in his eyes.

As the ride slowly came to an end, Will was sad to see the event also come to an end. The made their way to his car, getting into it once unlocked. When Will got to Nico's house, he got out and leaned on the car once opening the car door for the pink haired boy.

"So, have fun?" Will asked with his arms crossed as the boy stepped out.

Nico tugged at the sleeve that hung off of his shoulders. "I guess..." Nico tried to hide his smile, but Will could still see.

"Well," Will held out his hands and Nico shyly took them, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Nico avoided eye contact, hoping the blonde couldn't tell how red he was. Will brought the boy closer to him, holding him gently in his arms, one hand on the small of his back. Will stroked the boys cheek with his free hand, resting it on the side of his head, gently brushing his thumb over the hot and reddened cheek.

Will brought Nico's face closer to his before capturing his lips in a kiss. Nico slid his hands along Will's waist, not too sure where to put them. Even if they have kissed before, Nico thought that would never get used to the spark that occurred every time their lipped touched.

He was almost sad when Will pulled away, leaving him gasping for air. Nico found himself looking at his shoes, trying not to look at the blonde in the eye, knowing that if he did, he would probably lose his cool, so much as he has done many other times.

Nico started to back away, Will still having a hold on his hands. Nico put some distance between him and the blonde, but their hands still connecting them. Nico fought against the urge to look up, but he did. The blonde was never a disappointment, but at times, Nico felt like _he_ was.

They were just so different, why did they work? How could they work? It hurt Nico's head when he thought about it sometimes, because in all honesty, he felt like he was counting down his days, and they were starting to get good.

When Nico let go, Will was still leaning on the car, watching with his arms crossed. Nico was about to take off the jacket, but Will stopped him.

"No," he stated, "you keep it."

He was about to protest until he heard his oldest sister call for him. He cringed mentally and physically at the action, but he sighed as he walked towards the house, leaving Will still at the car.

When he got in the house, Will was driving away and his family was crowded in the living room. They just stared at him, waiting for him to tell, but just like the last time, he rolled his eyes and walked up stairs, making his way to his bedroom.

From down stairs, all he could hear was Bianca yelling, "For the love of God! Will you just tell us something for once?!"

Nico just smirked to himself as he brushed his teeth and laid down in his bed, closing his eyes and falling into what felt like an endless slumber.

….

 _ **Hey, new chapter. Not 100% with this one, but I hope it's good enough. I'm sorry this is taking a long time, this whole story, but I know where it's going, and once I get there, things shouldn't take too long.**_

 _ **So I'm writing chapter 12 right now and it's the play, don't know you how much you guys wanna see of it so unless I get told otherwise, I'm most likely to skim over the important parts. Just thinking about upcoming chapters and I think shits gonna start going down in ten chapters(?) shouldn't take me as long to write it up, so you'll get your drama soon.**_

 _ **I'm sorry for any plot holes, I'm trying my best to prevent it.**_

 _ **If you like this, check out my other stories. For those who follow Side Friend, if you don't already know, things are getting set up for some massive drama!**_

 _ **Review, favourite, and follow please.**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	12. Chapter 12- Blast From the Past

_**You guys liking the upkeep on updates? I got a new system that I can tackle all my stories so one doesn't get forgotten *cough cough* How About Know *cough cough* but things are seaming to be working! Enjoy a somewhat scheduled chapter!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Don't own the characters, just the story.**_

….

If you ever thought you were nervous, imagine having the confidence of a chicken nugget forced to embarrass yourself in front of thousands of people. Well, it wasn't exactly thousands, but to Nico, it felt even more. Today was the opening night of the play, and if Nico had to choose, he'd probably pick option C: crawl into a hole dug out by a wombat and spend his life with the mole people.

He really did wish he could get his nerves under control, he really did, but with everything happening so fast, the world seemed almost spinning, and once he got control on the direction, it would start going the other way. Nico just wished the world would send him a giant neon sign with an arrow pointing him in the right direction, telling him that life didn't suck to too much if he kept at in that way.

It took him a lot longer than usual to crawl out of bed that morning. He was tired, almost as if he had gotten no sleep at all, but in reality, he crashed the moment he got home.

When he finally got to school after swatting away his family from trying to poke at his personal life, he sunk into his seat, hoping he had become invisible to the world, but luck never fell no his side. It always trickled around him, showing what life could be like if the gods didn't hate him so much.

He was dead to the world, even when Annabeth came up to him before class even started to mindlessly poke at him until he gave a somewhat human response.

"You okay?" she asked, pulling up the chair that belonged to the seat in front, stealing it from some stoner kid that was always late.

Nico, in his state of absentmindedness, only blinked heavy-lidded and huffed a sigh her way.

"I take that as a no," she smiled inwardly. She was a great friend and always knew how to take a hint. "So," she started, "I was just wondering how things went last night?"

Nico responded to that.

His eyes shot up at her, his chin still resting on the table. She was going to press, wasn't she? He knew it was only time before she start her journey to get the answers she wanted, and nothing in her path would get in her way of receiving the truth. He knew he had to tell her, but he was just starting to piece things together, finally.

He sighed once more. "Fine," he muttered, hoping that the subject would soon be dropped.

"Come on! I've been patient with you, now it's time for you to spill," Annabeth pestered.

"Well," Nico started, unsure of how to start. He did owe her the truth, at least the bear minimum, but what would she be happy with and what was comfy with him to speak? He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes. "If I'm going to be completely honest, it didn't suck all that much."

Nico thought back on it. It was some of the most fun he has had in a long time. If he really thought about it, his whole experience with Will had been a lot more fun than he first imagined. He was still wearing his jacket for crying out loud. He had thought about returning it, but in a rush of blurry thoughts, he grabbed only his on his way out the door, but he didn't mind all that much.

Everything about this was new. This was one of the first time – if not the first time – he has maybe, possibly, liked someone more than family and Annabeth. He wasn't big on friends, he really didn't have all that many if you were counting outside of Annabeth.

When he first woke up with his number tattooed on his wrist, his heart had almost dropped. Before, he was waiting for it in anticipation, some small form of hope that he was holding on. He thought that maybe, just maybe, everything he had hoped for – friends, someone to call his own – would have been what he got. He was the youngest out of all the people he knew, so when he found out all of theirs, he slowly watched all of them slowly drift away from his, taking their new lives and living them.

That is what he had wanted; he wanted to belong. Nico knew he was bad with people, but here was a chance for all that to turn around and with very little effort on his part, something that he shouldn't have been able to truly mess up. But all that had changed when it he received his number. Everything he had hoped for and wanted slowly seemed to crumble down around him. And it had hurt.

He remembered the day that Will had gotten his number, it was a day that the school had waited for. He was rich, gorgeous, smart, and practically perfect. Almost every girl had waited for this moment, number or not.

….

"Dude! Did you see that?" Jason yelled at Will as they walked down the hall.

"What?" he asked back, a smirk playing at his lips.

It was April, spring was starting to finally settle in, the sun was up before everyone else, and it was almost Will's sixteenth birthday. He was excited. But with that, the hassle of everyone came with it.

Now, Will didn't think of himself as popular, he had a great amount of friends and people respected him. That was it. But not in others minds.

To other people, Will was the person you would look at and think, 'Yeah, he's going places!' He was well off and could handle himself in situations. It wasn't like he was a God or anything, but some people say he was blessed by one, especially when he smiled.

"Dude, look," Jason pointed at a group of girls that walked behind them, giggles, "that is what I'm getting at! You are too popular."

"Jay, I'm not," Will tried to fight back, but Jason just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah right, Mr. Perfect."

"Dude!" Will pushed him softly on the shoulder and Jason just laughed.

"But it's true, it's been getting worse the close _it_ comes," Jason wiggled an eyebrow at his blonde friend.

"Seriously, it's just my birthday, I ain't becoming king."

"Well, to them, you are," Jason said nonchalantly. Will shrugged and they continued on their way.

It was getting strange; Will couldn't walk through the halls without the eyes of the ones that pass on by on him. He knew there were some girls, and even some guys, that had a crush on him, but even that he found slightly weird to think about. And with his birthday coming closer, it was getting almost out of hand. He hated thinking about all this as in the way that seemed like he only cared about himself, when that was nowhere near true at all. He didn't mind the attention, but if it was never there, he wouldn't hate that outcome, either.

And the attention wasn't a bad thing, either. He had a lot of friends because of it. He did have his close circle of them that he hanged out with on a regular occasion, but he was never turned down for a conversation, and he liked the fact that the people were quite kind and didn't feel like he was untouchable or would turn them down when they came up to him.

He quite liked the people that did because it made the weird seem a little more normal in his eyes.

As Will and Jason walked down the hall to their next class, one they shared together, he weren't surprised when they saw Luke pushing a smaller boy into the wall, a smirk on his face.

Will rolled his eyes and turned to Jason. "Of course…"

Both parties sighed and made their way over.

"Really, Luke?" Will asked, almost bored at the usual antics of the blonde.

Said boy just turned his head to face the other two blonde who were standing with their arms crossed in front of their chests.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

Will looked over the scene, something he was used to by now. But what he saw was sad; the look on the boy's face was heartbreaking. His dark hair was in front of his face, shielding his eyes from the boy that stood in front of him. His face was pale and shaken. When his hair did fall from his face, his eyes had a sad shine to them, they seemed almost black from the dullness in them.

His books were scattered at his feet, and some papers were kicked down the hall, being stepped on by people that walked on by. He had a hard grip on one of them, his hold seeming to never break.

The whole sight was kind of sad.

When Will thought about it, he did remember seeing this boy around, mainly around Luke. What had that poor boy done to deserve this?

"Do you want the teachers involved again?" Will asked, plainly.

"Dude, really?" Luke shot back.

"Seriously, you know what will happen if you keep this up."

"Will," Jason sighed as he raised a bored brow to the blonde beside him.

"Just," Will sighed, "not in school, okay?"

Luke's brows shot up into his hair in surprise. He backed up with his hands in the air innocently, as if he hadn't done anything to begin with.

The boy slid down the wall, trying to catch his breath, and picked up his books and papers with a shaky hand. As the boy reached for his final book, Will bent down and pick it up and handed it to him. The boy looked up at him with wide-eyes and grabbed it hesitantly, slow at first, but swiftly stealing it back at the last moment. He looked away from the bright blue of the blonde's eyes and made a fast pace of it to his next class, leaving the small group of blondes with one another.

"Could you not keep it in your pants till the end of the day?"

"Ah, yes, your mistress, Crime and Violence, how you have it hard for her," Jason played along, gently shrugging and sighing.

"Shut up, jackasses," Luke threatened the other two harshly.

….

When Will woke up on the morning of his birthday, he was groggy at first, rolling over and off the bed in one roll. He had become used to rolling off of the bed in the morning, his blanket usually softening his fall as it too liked to roll off the bed throughout the night.

With a soft thud, Will sighed and huffed in frustration of finding himself still tired and on the hard floor. He climbed up the side of his dresser, using it as help to stand.

He made his way downstairs where his parents were cooking breakfast for him and his siblings, but being his birthday, mainly for him. He sat down and his head met the table right away. With his school work really starting to pile on for some reason, he hasn't been getting enough sleep.

"There's the birthday boy," his mother cheered, happily.

Will only grunted in response.

"Typical," his sister, Kayla said, rolling her eyes at her brother.

"So…?" his mother sang with a smile playing on her lips.

Will wasn't in any mood at the time, so he simply just huffed and closed his eyes, hoping he would fall asleep again, but he never could.

"For right now," he grumbled, "can we all just assume that it's blank until I can see straight?"

"That's no fun," Kayla whined; she wanted something to use against her brother.

Will once again on grunted in response.

As time went on, his mother served the family of five with Austin joining them shortly after Will's arrival at the table. He was just able to pick his head up off the table along with his fork before his mother stood opposite of him, smiling.

If he was going to be honest, Will was terrified. What was he going to see? Would it be a number that he knew already? He had friends that had theirs and he knew what they were, so would they match? Would it be someone he didn't know? He wasn't sure what would have been scarier, seeing a number he already knew or seeing one he didn't. Everything was really starting to get to him and all he had to do was look down and take it in.

So, he closed his eyes, held his breath, and looked down. He slowly turned his wrist over to face him and placed his hand over it. All he had to do was open his eyes and remove his hand and he would see what it was. His official time of birth had passed, so he would know in only a matter of seconds. All he had to do was gather up the courage and…

He opened his eyes and removed his hand.

 _ **X**_

That's all that was there; one letter, nothing more. He found it strange. Some of his friends had numbers such as _**MMMMCMXCIX**_ and _**CDXXXVI**_ , but here he was, sitting here with a simple _**X.**_

He looked up at his family who were practically on the edge of their seats, leaning over the counter at him. All of them just stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

"So… was I right? Is it blank?" Kayla asked. Austin laughed at her, almost in agreement.

Will rested his wrist on the counter, number up.

His family just stared.

"That's… weird," Kayla said. It was so simple.

"Yeah, next is me, though…" Austin realised. He would have to wait a few months, but it really started to dawn on him.

….

"Why can't people stop staring?" Will asked, rubbing his wrist as he walked with Jason in the halls.

The blonde laughed, slapping the other on the back. "You're a man now!"

"I don't feel like a man, I feel like a show dog…" Will said, timidly.

"That's what you are, my man. You are but a poodle on display, get used to it. Someone will soon come up and claim their prize with the lucky numbers – or in this case, _number_ – and you'll be whisked away and live happily ever after!"

"Thanks buddy, that makes me feel so good about myself." Will rolled his eyes, still clenching his wrist.

"Hey, I'm telling the truth. Once word gets out, it'll be a smooth sailing until your mystery girl if found. Who wouldn't want you?!" he asked, waving his hand up and down Will, wiggling his eyebrows with a smirk playing one his face, and a creepy one at that.

"Jason," Will sighed, "that's pretty gay."

"Dude," Jason laughed, trying to cover himself, "I mean that in the least gay way possible, but seriously. I'm surprised that she hasn't come forward yet! She must be younger than you." Jason wiggled his eyebrows with a smirk again.

"Bro, I'm not into _younger_ women!"

"I'm not saying _younger_."

"Well, when you wiggle your eyebrows like that-"

As Will and Jason walked down the hall, Will was pushed from his thoughts when a small body ran passed him, pushing him out of the way.

"What the hell was that?" Percy asked, walking up to meet his two blonde friends as they watched, confused, the boy that just ran into Will run down the hall in a scurry.

"I… think that was the boy that Luke was beating on…" Will mumbled, a little unsure of it.

"Might be, does kind of look like him," Jason agreed.

"Well, Luke really needs to stop doing that," Will stated as the three of them continued down the hall.

"Yeah, he's getting better with his anger. About time…" Percy put in, sighing as he shoved his hands in his pocket. "At least with Thalia around now, bitch finally put him in his place."

"Hey!" Jason yelled. "That's my sister you're talking about!" He shoved Percy into the lockers.

"Dude!" Percy shot back. "I was only joking! You know I like your sister, she's hot and shit."

"Why you-"

"Guys!" Will moved in between the two boys and pushed them away from each other. "Calm your shit! Fuck, you guys are like little kids. Jason, your sister is attractive and she's putting Luke back in place; Percy, you have a girlfriend, so watch the way you word things! God, you guys need to calm down and not over think things. I'm done with trying to break up your shit."

Both Jason and Percy wrung their heads in shame, looking at the ground and avoiding eye contact with Will. He was the reasonable one in the group, so they tend to listen to him when they aimed at each other's neck.

"I guess you're right…" Jason mumbled, kicking his foot.

"Yeah, what he said," Percy added in a small voice.

"Good, now, we have chem' to get to, so if you guys don't mind throwing your pride for this moment, I think if we're late one more time, Mr. H will kill us, and none of us want to see Leo's dad mad."

With a nod of the party, they took their leave and headed to class.

…

"Dude, it's been months, how come no girl has claimed their prize?" Jason asked with a mouth full of food while they sat in the cafeteria.

Jason sat with Piper on his right and Percy on his left, Will in front of them. Callie was to his left, next to Thalia who was pushing Luke in that friendly way they did.

Will sighed and looked up, bored. "I don't know."

"C'mon, dude!" Percy said in a needy tone.

"Why don't you find Annabeth and bug her?" Will asked dryly. He was getting tired of them bugging him about it.

"Well, she decided that she wanted to hang with her other friends, and because I'm a nice guy, I told her that I would hang with mine, but you're being uncooperative."

"Congrats, you let your girlfriend have other friends," Will said sarcastically.

"Dude, Annabeth would beat me if I said otherwise. Even though she's a year younger, she's scary man, I tell yah."

"And I don't really care," Will poked at his food, directing his voice at the two boys in front of him. "And anyways, shouldn't we talk about how Callie has the same number as Valdez?"

"Shut up!" Callie yelled when she slammed her fork down and glared at the blonde. The whole table broke out into laughter.

"Now that's interesting." Jason raised a brow and smirked at the panicked girl.

"Drop it; I'm not with that egotistic maniac."

"Hey," Thalia cut in and flipped her wrist up showing her number, "but I'm with the egotistic maniac."

Once again the table was in laughter as Luke yelled, "Hey!"

As soon as the table died down a little more, Will sighed and poked at his food before shoving a piece in his mouth. "But really, I couldn't care less whether they show up now or in twenty years, as long as they show up at all."

…..

"Hey," Annabeth greeted as she took her seat beside her friend as he scribbled away on a piece of paper.

"Two thousand word essay – English – lunch end at one O' five – ten minutes left – Supernatural marathon."

"Oh, Nico, why did you wait till the last minute again?" she sighed and leaned on her arm and watched as he scribbled away at the paper.

"Dean and Cas," was all he said as he aggressively erased a word.

"How much do you have left?" She almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"I've written two pages, one front and back and the other front and half of the back. I write approximately five hundred words per side, so I'll finish this side and do about half of a third sheet and call it quits."

Annabeth laughed, covering her smile.

"Looks like you know what you're doing."

Nico only nodded.

Annabeth only shook her head as she watched his pencil scribble back and forth on the paper, leaving behind words at lightning fast speed.

When only a few spear minutes where left in lunch, Nico slammed his pencil down and shuffled his papers round to get them in the right order. He sighed and picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

"So," he started with food in his mouth, "why you here and not with 'Mr. Perfect'?"

Annabeth laughed. "Can't I see my best friend?"

"Where?" Nico asked, looking side to side and behind him.

Annabeth smiled and shook her head at him. "Idiot." She pushed him and Nico just smiled, looking down at the table.

"But seriously, since the whole… you know… you've been practically glued to his side."

"Well," Annabeth dragged out, looking anywhere but at his eyes, "Their friend got his number a while back and they won't shut up about it."

"Fun."

"Yeah," she sighed, "tell me about it." She sat up and relaxed. "But seriously, I love them all to death, but with everyone getting older, it's really starting to get annoying."

"I couldn't care less about them really…"

"Nico!"

"What?" Nico yelled. "I'm serious, I really don't. Their asshats, so why should I like them?"

"Nico…" Annabeth ran her hand over her face, sighing. She looked at the boy who only stared back at her, waiting for her move. "You really should give these people a chance. You never know what the future brings. Who knows? You might end up intertwined with them."

The bell rang.

….

"…ico?"

"…Nic…"

"Nico!"

"What?!" Nico snapped out of thought, looking up at the girl in front of him. What had he been doing before he got lost in thought? Oh right, Annabeth was interrogating him.

"So, are you going to tell me?'

"What?" Nico asked again, not remembering what was said beforehand.

Annabeth sighed and rubbed her face with her hand, pulling it down. "You and Will? How are things going?" she said annoyed.

"Oh yeah… Sorry."

"And, what were you thinking about just now?"

"Oh," Nico tried to think of a good excuse. "Just – just tired is all. A memory just popped up and I got carried away, sorry."

"That's fine," Annabeth waved it off, scooting in closer to listen to her friend. "So…?"

"Well," Nico gulped, unsure of how to really start. How did he feel about the boy? He liked him – that much was obvious to him by now – but to what extent? "Well, umm…. I'm too sure on where to start, really."

"Just started somewhere and see where your words take you."

"Okay," Nico thought; he was going to try that. "Well, I guess I like him. He is nice and kind, I guess. I'm not too sure, really. His friends seem nice, _your_ friends. Luke's an asshat, though, but I think you already know that.

"Well, he does seem to care, like, he tries, I guess." Nico thought about it, thinking back to everything they've done so far. He smiled to himself. "He can be funny. He wants to be a doctor, you know? And he's pretty good at it too. Well, from what I know, of course. But – like, I don't know. Like, I know I must have feelings, however small they may be, because we are… you know, but, I just – I don't know.

"I feel kind of awkward around him at sometimes, almost like I can't actual know him or actually be his friend, like I'm not allowed. I don't know… but… he does make me happy." Nico found himself start to smile even more than before.

"He'll text me random things at random times, almost like he's trying to tell me that I'm on his mind or something like that. He'll always talk gentle to me, even if he was just yelling at Percy or Jason. He's always smiling, and is always the last to look away.

"But… I feel like the problems me, you know? Like, I'll look away to fast or I'll yell or push him away, but he's always there. Like, I don't want to hurt him, but at the same time, it feels like that's exactly what I'm doing to him the whole time. Like – I don't know, but, I just… I find that he tried too hard and I don't try hard enough, even though I should try harder and shouldn't have to make him try as hard, because I shouldn't be the one like this, and I don't want to be. I don't, but I am, and it scares me, you know? I feel like it's going to be me that gives the final push, like he'll do something and I'll push it just a little too far and that it, it's all over. But I don't want to do that, I don't want to be the final push, but I am, you know?"

By the end of his monologue, he was out of breath and almost at tears. He knew what he said was true, and that's what hurt him the most. It hurt that he knew that if anyone was going to give the 'final push', I was going to be him. Nico acts like he doesn't care, but in actuality, it is that he cares too much and he's not sure on what to do. All he has ever done is push people away and been pushed away, but the fact that someone is trying, it was confusing and hard for him.

He didn't want everything to come crashing down, but at this rate, it was going to, and he was terrified. He was terrified of loss, of being annoying, of being unwanted. It scared him more than he had realised until now. Now he realised that everything really could be brought down, destroyed in one small motion.

It wasn't until Annabeth broke the silence that he realised he was about to cry. He looked up at her with tears just about to shed.

"Hey," she spoke softly, looking at him with kind eyes, "I think you do understand. I think you really do see where you stand with everything. And I know everything is going to be fine. It seems that you have all the pieces and you just need to fit them together."

Nico looked at her in awe. He didn't know what to say. She squeezed his hand as she stood and smiled gently at his way. When she left, Nico got his stuff ready for his class to start, wiping his tears on his sleeve just to be safe.

As Annabeth walked out, she stopped just outside the door and smiled.

"Ease dropping isn't nice, now is it?" she asked.

Will laughed. "I didn't mean to, I was passing, looking for you, and when I saw you in there, I didn't want to bug you, so I waited. Guess I should have come back later?"

"Well," Annabeth rolled the idea around in her mind, "I guess that's up to you. What are you going to do with the information?" Before Will had time to give an answer, she walked down the hall, heading to her first class of the day.

….

 _ **BAM! How was that? Just a FYI, this day is going to be stretched out over three chapters. Just finished writing the next chapter for this one and looks like it'll take a bit longer than planned, but in this case I'll write the play out in more detail instead of the vague I usually do (Mainly what occurs in Side Friend)**_

 _ **I'm sorry for my shit grammar, I really am! I'm trying my best, but I'm not perfect!**_

 _ **So, a small mile stone I would love to put out is that recently an author that I follow and love and is one of the reasons I started writing just checked out this story and that gave my confidence a huge boost, so that's one reason for the sudden increase of chapters for this story and the other one.**_

 _ **So besides my own self-blabbering, I would love to thank everyone that had kept up with everything so far and if you're just starting this, hold the fuck on, this shit's about to take off soon! But you guys are the reason I keep writing, because if you weren't here, giving me your love, I would probably be a sad piece of trash, but because of you, I'm an extremely happy piece of trash that loves all of you, even the ghosts that just sit back.**_

 _ **Some shameless self-promotion: check out Side Friend if you like this kind of story; shits about to go down in the wonderful world of Nico and Will over there. If you like more of the sassy things I write, which usually occurs at midnight, check out How About No!, just setting that story up for a total shit-show, and you're all invited!**_

 _ **Thank you guys again for everything, seriously, I couldn't tell you guys enough!**_

 _ **Review, follow, and favourite please!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	13. Bonus!

_**Oh shit! It's an actual chapter! Don't hate me please!**_

 _ **DISCLAIMER:**_ _ **Don't own the characters, just the story**_

…

"Dude," Will called out, a slight bounce in his step, "I am freaking starving!"

"I know," Percy replied, catching up with the blonde.

"I haven't eaten since last night," Jason added, a sigh heavy on his tongue.

"Why?" Percy turned and asked, eyebrow raised.

"Dad wouldn't stop going on and on about this and that. Honestly, I zoned out for most of it."

"Thalia told me," Luke said, his actions lazy and laid back.

"Oh yeah, she was so pissed last night. He gives us like no freedom, even though he's hardly home, like, ever."

"And the physics test didn't help one bit," Will added, yawning now.

"Don't even get me started," Jason sighed, his hands on his neck. "I couldn't study at all last night because of it. Thalia totally ditched though, and dad didn't even notice. He was too busy pounding me every waking moment to even realise."

"I noticed," Luke said, a smirk appearing devilishly on his face.

Jason shoved the blonde into the lockers as Luke laughed, used to the violence.

"Seriously? Can't you two act mature even once? Luke, if you're not careful, you'll get kicked out and wont graduate."

"Fuck off, Solace. I'm not getting into fights anymore," Luke hissed back. "I'm going to graduate and get the hell out of here and this shit hole."

"That's what I'm saying," Will told him, a knowing tone laced his voice.

Luke tried to talk back, but before he could, they reached the stairwell in front of the cafeteria, their usual meeting place before they headed in. Callie was leaning up against the locker talking with some of her friends from class. Thalia was in the mix.

When Jason's sister spotted them, she ran over to Luke, jumping him with their lips locked together. Jason made a gagging noise, pretending to shove his fingers down his throat while looking away, facing Percy and Will. The two just laughed.

"I missed you," she spoke, with a sort of haze covering her words.

"I missed you, too," he replied, leaning down to meet her lips again.

Callie made her way over, shaking her head at the boys as she waved bye to her friends. She stood beside Will, hands on her hip as she tried to hide her smile from the blonde whom kept the act up.

"That's so gross," Jason said quietly, gagging again to get his point a crossed.

"Dude, it's just your sister, get over it," Percy stated.

"That's the point."

Luke turned to face Jason, his arm wrapped around Thalia's waist.

"Aww, sad Piper isn't here? Want me to kiss you instead?" Luke jokingly asked, puckering his lips up and closing his eyes as he leaned his head forward in Jason's direction to try and kiss him.

"Please no," Jason mumbled, shaking his head.

"I thought I was the Grace you liked?" Thalia jokingly complained, putting on a fake pouty face.

"You were sadly mistaken," Luke announced over dramatically, slipping his hand out from around Thalia whom shook her head then tried to pout again, going on with his antics.

Luke when up to Jason, eyeing him down.

"Oh god, Luke…" Jason tried to stop him, but the other blonde wasn't going to back down from what he had started.

"My love," he started, getting down on one knee, "our love is but a candle in the wind, never to stay ignited, for it is doomed from the start." He stood up and grabbed Jason's hands, holding them in his own. He kissed them gently. "I have watched you for so long, my love. Hiding behind the excuse of your sister so that you wouldn't suspect a thing. You are the only Grace in my heart, Jason. You are my true saving-grace!"

By the end, Percy, Will, Thalia, and Callie were in tears with laughter. Jason had a dead look in his eyes, the expression that called out for help, but none of his friends had come. Luke stayed like that for a few seconds longer before breaking character to join the others in laughter. He grabbed Thalia by the waist like he had done previously and went about as if nothing had even happened.

The group of them carried out their conversations, laughing about until something had caught Luke's eyes. Not something, some _one._ He let his arm slip from Thalia once more, but this time, she wasn't aware of why. The group looked at one another before turning to watch Luke stride a crossed the hall to the other side.

Before any of them knew what was up, Luke had a smaller boy pinned up against the wall, his mouth turned up in a snarl.

"Oh boy," Percy stated.

"Here we go," Will added, taking a deep breath.

"Oh, well isn't it my old pal, Neeks," they heard Luke spit from the lockers where he had the poor boy cornered.

"Isn't that the same boy he was picking on earlier?" Percy asked, almost bored like.

"Yeah," Thalia answered with a heavy sigh.

"I've seen that kid around. What did he ever do to Luke?" Will asked.

"Dunno," Thalia replied. "Must not like the way he looks or something."

"You know Luke, picking on anyone and everyone for no reason," Jason added.

Thalia had had enough; she sauntered over there and called out, "Luke, can we just go and eat? You can finish this later." Her voice was dry.

When Luke looked back at Thalia, a dark look crossed his face, his mouth tuning up in a snarl. When he turned back to the dark-hair boy, Thalia threw her hands up in frustration.

"He's going off about the whole soulmate thing now," Callie mumbled shortly.

"Of course he is," Thalia rolled her eyes, standing with her arms crossed.

Will stood there, his foot tapping against the polished floor in annoyance.

"It's like he doesn't understand that he needs to stay out of trouble to graduate," Will spoke with aggression.

"Oh yeah, he's gonna blame us for this after, too, if he gets in trouble," Percy replied.

"… What's yours Neeks?" Luke asked, the small group of people now watching this routine exchange.

Luke's body was relaxed, but the boy's was full of tension. If Will didn't know any better, he would say that the boy had glanced at him for a few vague seconds before glancing away and looking up at the blonde in front of him.

"Oh wait, you don't have one, do you Neeks?" Luke snarled, almost literally spitting in his face.

The boy was shaking behind Luke. His legs looked as if they were going to give out any second.

"I do have a number and it's none of your business what it is," the boy fought back, voice cracking a little bit.

The entire group was getting annoyed, wanting to just go and eat at this point. Luke was the one always holding them up no matter what they were doing.

"Now you've peaked my attention," Luke said, voice full of an evil kind of wonder.

Will had had enough and was bored now. "Alright Luke, let him go," he called out.

"Hey now, I kinda wanna know what his number is, don't you?" Jason asked, kind of guilty-like. "Luke has been picking on his for a while now because of this…" he spoke in a quieter tone to the two boys beside him. Percy gave a guilty nod also.

Will just crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, by this point, he really didn't care.

By now, Annabeth had joined the group, Percy wrapping his arm around her waist. She had kissed him on the cheek and was watching the exchange, apologizing for being late. Percy had filled her in on what had happened, and she looked like she wanted to step in. Will thought that Annabeth was this boys friend, seeing as she talked with him a few times before, but he really didn't care to pay attention or to simple care.

As Luke wrestled the boy to the ground, Annabeth had gotten pissed.

"That's enough, Luke!" she shouted, her voice stern.

"Hold on," he stated carelessly, as if he didn't have this boy pinned against his will, "I'm almost…" his voice dragged on as he finished what he was doing. "There!" he exclaimed when he had won the struggle. "Now let's just see what that number of yours…"

Luke had gone quiet for a short while, something that wasn't like him. Everyone just waited to see what was going to happen. Was the boy lying? Was he telling the truth? Did Luke know the number? None of them knew what was up for the short while that Luke stayed silent. And for a small bit, some of them wanted that.

Luke's body stiffened, a sort of action that didn't happen very often, if it happened at all. The group looked at one another, each passing a questioning look. The longer it stayed, the more curious some of them got. Jason was the first to brake the silence.

"What's up, Luke?" he called out, taking a few steps forward when Luke didn't respond.

Luke's shoulders started to rise and fall ever so slightly, moving more and more as the seconds went by. Luke had started laughing, so Jason continued the way over and looked down to what Luke was seeing. Just like Luke, Jason had gone silent, but instead of laughing, he walked back with wide-eyes, patting Will on the shoulder as he passed him.

"Good luck," was all he said to Will when he passed, making the blonde kind of nervous.

"Huh?"

Will wasn't sure what he was supposed to do, so he did the only thing he thought about at that moment. He looked at the group before slowly walking over to where the boy and Luke were. The closer he got, the more he was able to identify him. His name was… Nico… di Angelo, right? Yeah, he thought that was right.

When he reached the two, Luke scooted out of the way, still trying to keep his laughter under control. The boy – Nico had stood up, still heavily leaning on the lockers for support. Will had eyed Luke one last time, which ended up with Luke falling into a pit of heavy laughter once again. He ignored his friend to look at shorter male in front of him.

He examined him, nothing stood out. When the two locked eyes, Will couldn't help but notice how intense they were. They burned holes into his mind. Nico's eyes almost scared Will. Will wasn't sure on what to do, so he did the first thing that popped into his mind.

"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the boy's wrist.

"What nice manners," he caught the boy say under his breath in a snarky tone as he looked away.

As the moments crawled on by, he was becoming increasingly aware of his own mark, staining his wrist with a single number.

With shaky hands, he reached down and grabbed the smaller boy's wrist. As he did, his heart pounded. Was this really going to happen? Was this really who he had been searching for? He didn't know, and he wouldn't until he turned the boy's wrist over and examine it.

Five minutes ago he was laughing and complaining with his friends about mediocre things such as lunch and school, and now he was going to see if this scrawny, scary boy that had always been in the background of his life would change his. He only had to not look and everything would be the same, as if nothing had even happened.

For a brief moment, he thought Luke and Jason were playing a game on him. He wasn't gay. He didn't like guys. He never had. But then a small voice in the back of his head told him that he never had interest in girls either, so he wasn't sure on what to believe.

Will turned over the wrist that was in his hand and looked at it.

 _ **X**_

He blinked and then looked again.

 _ **X**_

Every time he looked at it, it would still stay the same. His eyes went wide.

A few thoughts ran through his mind; _what if it wasn't real? Then why would he try to hide it?_ Fair enough. _What if it was in fact a joke that Luke and him were on? Then why would Luke wait till now and not back when you first got yours?_ Also strong point.

Every time he thought of a question, he would answer it, leaving the truth staring him directly in the face.

Will tried to say something, but he was in so much shock, that nothing came out.

"Didn't know you were gay, Solace," Luke joked, still on the floor.

"I'm not, asshole," he shot back, and the moment he did, he regretted it. An almost pained look crossed the boy's face when he did.

Will swallowed hard, his hands jittery.

"di Angelo, right?" Will asked.

The boy tried to not look him directly in the eyes, but he managed to nod.

Will wasn't sure on where he was to go on this, so he just started to say the first thing that came to his mind.

"So you've been hiding this for a year? Why?"

The boy shrugged, looking the other way. "Didn't exactly want to get involved with all this, so I stayed away. Not like it was easy to hide such an obvious number, you know?" Nico replied, a bit harshly.

Did this boy really not want to meet him, if it meant all this? Because of whom he was friends with? Had he really categorized him to believe that he was exactly like them? He wasn't, and he felt hurt.

"Anyways," the boy continued, "as you just said, you're not gay and neither am I, so I just stayed away and hid." As soon as he finished, he was just as quick to leave, brushing past Will to escape the scene.

Will just stood there looking perplexed. A million thoughts raced around in his mind. As the rest of his friends all made their way into the cafeteria, Luke even getting up from off of the ground, Will was lost in thought. He mindlessly followed them as they sat down.

The crowd that had seen the events go down had dispersed, whispers echoed through the halls.

As his friends picked and poked at him, Will decided that he wasn't going to settle for this. He had wanted to know who his soulmate was, and just because it was some junior that thought the idea of his company wouldn't be pleased, he wasn't just about ready to give up. Oh no, he was long from it.

That lunch he was lost in thought as he went over what he was going to do to prove his worth. He was going to make this shy boy like him whether he liked it or not. As these thoughts swelled in his head, his plan to be liked, little did he know that in doing so, he too would also loose himself. He would fall helplessly in love with the boy he only set out to prove him wrong.

In that moment, everything that had mattered, didn't. This one goal was all he would think of. The shy boy named Nico that Luke picked on would become helplessly in love with him, but so would he.

…

 _ **I was going to write a few more scenes, but this went longer than I thought, so I'll give you this to hold you over. I AM SO SORRY!**_

 _ **Oh, and before I forget – Happy birthday Piper! Everyone's favourite beauty queen! (Even tho she wasn't in this chapter…)**_

 _ **I randomly thought about this in the shower. I was like "I wonder what was going threw Will's head when some of this was going down?" and then my wondrous mind went to work!**_

 _ **Yesterday I saw my old crush (of almost 6 years) at my bad concert and I almost died in side. Haven't seen him in almost a year and it was great! My friends wouldn't stop making hearts when I was on stage because he was LITERALLY RIGHT I FRONT OF US! I died.**_

 _ **On another side note, I handed in a fanfiction to my English teacher as a final project mainly because she was reading Percy Jackson and was on the last book. She agreed to read mine after she finishes the book so she can meet Will. It was an idea I was tossing around for a while and had the opportunity to write it. I don't know if I'll post it, maybe sometime down the line but its about Nico who was cursed to never feel the love of Will after Will blows off his engagement. Oh, and this all happens roughly in the 11**_ _ **th**_ _ **century. But it takes place mainly in the present day, only for plot does it go back in time, but you guys don't care about that!**_

 _ **So I hope you enjoyed your small bonus chapter, if you guys want anymore scenes like this, it would be quiet fun. I love writing about Will and co. they are great! Luke's an asshole, but I love him.**_

 _ **Oh, one last thing. Me and my friend have this Instagram account that we don't post anything on and it's just a picture of this guy I know's year book photo. We have like 12 followers and we do nothing, its great. Its Sexybarbie63 and check it out if you want.**_

 _ **Alright, enough of my rant. Thank you for your never ending love and support and for putting up with my crappy grammar and lack of editor! You guys are my favourite!**_

 _ **Please check out my other stories**_ _ **How About No**_ _ **and**_ _ **Side Friend**_ _ **if you enjoy my writing. They're pretty chill.**_

 _ **Please review, follow, and favourite!**_

 _ **Kitty out!**_


	14. Chapter 13- Behind the Scenes

**_A schedule that is actually followed?! It's less likely than you think!_**

 ** _Holy shit! I'm not dead! And NEITHER is this story!_**

 ** _DISCLAIMER: don't own the characters, just the story_**

…..

The time seemed to tick away faster than it should have normally. Nico knew he was just seeing things, as time couldn't have gone any faster than it did any other day, but as he sat in class, the sinking feeling that engorged the bottom of his stomach whenever he remembered that today he would have to preform in front of an audience and not just the other actors was driving him insane.

And watching the clock on the wall wasn't helping on bit. He had run the conversation he had with Annabeth over and over in his mind, trying to piece everything together to make sense and to keep his mind occupied.

But the more he tried to get his mind off things, the more he thought about those that made him nervous in other fields. It was a total mess, and that perfectly summed up everything he felt in that exact moment.

The day dragged on, ever second lasting just moments longer than it should have. So, as he dragged himself from room to room, he managed to stay sane just long enough to make it past the bell that sounded for lunch.

Annabeth raised a brow as Nico leaned up against her locker and looked her directly in the eyes, giving her an expression that read, "dread."

"How's it going?" she asked more of a side comment to his appearance, to which he simply raised a brow, saying absolutely nothing. "That bad, really?"

"I am beyond tired and I'm dragging myself through today," Nico muttered as he pressed his face up against the cold locker.

Annabeth chuckled softly as she shook her head and closed the metal door with a soft _thud._

"Well, just make it through tonight and you'll be fine," she stated as the two of them walked side by side down the hall.

"But that's the problem," Nico blurted out as he pushed himself off the locker to be beside her, "the fact that I even have to do it is something I really don't want to do." Nico brushed the slightly faded pink hair from out of his eyes as he let out a small burst of air from between his slightly parted dry lips.

"You'll do fine," Annabeth reassured him as they stopped off to the side of the stairs as other people came and went past them.

"God, I hope so…"

Annabeth rolled her eyes as they headed down stairs and towards the cafeteria.

"You sitting with us?" she asked as they weaved in and out of crowed of people standing around, chatting.

"That implies Percy, Jason, and them, right?" Nico asked a question he knew the answer to, his voice making it sound more like a statement than anything.

"You already know the answer to that, dude," Annabeth said with a slight chuckle to her voice.

"Damn!" he said with fake enthusiasm, voice obviously dripping with sarcasm as he swung his arm and snapped his fingers. Annabeth laughed softly as they made their way to the line for lunch. Silence over came them for a moment before another thought had raced to the surface of Nico's mind. "Oh," he said, his voice seeming more nonchalant, "and Will asked me to prom."

Annabeth stopped what she was doing and stared at him from the back. When Nico turned to face her to see what her response was, she stared at him dead in the eye, face expressionless.

"What the hell, Nico," she said as a statement.

"What?" he asked, grabbing what he wanted and heading down to pay.

"When did this happen?" she asked.

"Yesterday," he told her after handing the women on the other side his money to pay.

"And you waited till now to tell me?"

He stepped out of line and faced her as she paid, joining her once she was done.

"Well, I didn't think it was important, really…"

"I told you he was going to ask you and your dumb ass didn't want to believe me, and when I turned out to be fucking right, you waited till almost twelve hours afterwards to finally tell me?"

Nico rubbed the back of his leg with his foot and looked away, his tray still in hand.

"I mean…"

"No 'I mean' shit, get your ass over to that damn table and sit next to your man," Annabeth demanded sternly, heading in the direction ahead of him.

As Annabeth set her tray next to Percy whom greeted her with the biggest smile he had ever seen, Nico made his way over to the giant group of people. As he approached the table, his stride slowed down as Will looked over and they made eye contact.

Nico pushed the hard pounding of his chest down and swallowed the giant ball that got caught in his throat. He kept his head up as he set his tray right beside Will, taking the seat next to him directly after.

Neither of them said anything more than a smile, but when Nico took a seat, Will's free hand fell beside him and rested along side Nico's that had stayed frozen at his side.

"So, guess what," Annabeth blurted out as she stabbed her sad excuse of what was supposed to be fries and a burger with a plastic fork most of the table thought was going to break. Percy had his arm draped around her shoulders as he listened to her.

"What?" Thalia asked, shoving three chips into her mouth at the same time.

"Okay – so, I find out that this dumb fuck" – she gestured to Will with her fork that had a soggy fry at the end of it – "freaking asked this piece of shit" – she moved her fry over to point to Nico as a piece of the fry fell off – "to prom and I am only _now_ just hearing about this," Annabeth cried out exasperatedly, shoving the soggy fry into her mouth with intense aggression.

Nico looked away as he could feel his cheeks heat up, trying to keep his heartrate down and to not have it explode out of his chest from the sudden rush of blood flow to his face. He flinched ever so slightly as Will took his hand in his own, just holding it to feel that he was there beside him.

"What the fuck dude?" Thalia asked with food hanging out of her mouth, moving her hand to show that she was exasperated also.

"Yeah! Why didn't I hear about this?" Piper asked, followed by Jason pushing his glasses up his nose and leaning in, adding an agreement "yeah!" to the mix, almost more shocked than Piper herself.

"Well," Will mumbled as pushed something close to a salad around on his plate for a moment before deciding to drop his fork onto his plate in a choice better to his heath. "I just…"

"You just what?" Annabeth said as Percy stole a soggy fry and popped it into his mouth as if it was nothing.

"I didn't think it needed to be announced like the next Pope," he explained, shrugging as he reached across to steal one of Thalia's fries, but she poled away.

"No way, bitch. Fries are for people who don't withhold information."

"I didn't withhold information! I didn't think it needed to be broadcasted on national television, and anyways, I thought y'all already knew I was going to ask him – I told Percy!"

Percy raised his hands as all eyes turned to him with a judging gaze.

"Look who's in trouble now," Luke said with a singsong voice, raising a brow and smirking.

"Listen, don't look at me, we are all blaming Will, can we go back to doing that?" he asked as Annabeth turned to face him with a stern look locked on her face.

"Now I'm just disappointed in the both of you," she said as she turned to face away from her boyfriend who still looked slightly distressed.

"Anyways," Piper piped in, leaning forward, "the real topic should be on tonight-"

"Fucking hell," Callie muttered under her breath as she carried a hard glare at her phone.

"What's up, CC?" Jason asked as he raised a brow.

"Nothing," she said before Thalia reached over and stole her phone. "Hey!"

"Ooo!" Thalia said with amusement. She leaned back when Callie swiped for it but leaned forward ad rested her forearms on the table once she gave up.

"What is it?" Luke asked, his arm wrapped around her waist and a can of pop in his other hand, taking a sip.

"It's Leo," Thalia spoke with a giant smirk running from ear to ear.

"Oh god," Callie muttered, dropping her head on the table to try and disappear.

"Oh Callie, your boyfriend is coming tonight to see you," Thalia mocked her, sliding her phone back to her, but the dirty blonde wasn't having any of it as it stood. She kept her head down and just groaned as she slowly reached for her phone.

"He's not my boyfriend…" she groaned, rolling her face over so her voice wasn't as muffled as it was before.

"Yeah, sure, for now," Piper said slyly. Callie replied simply by making a noise at the back of her throat.

"I can't believe that man, though. Like, he basically burnt his house down so we had to freaking replace him last minute and here he is, thinking he can waltz in here and act like nothing," Will huffed as he stabbed at his sort-of-salad once again, debating on whether he was going to actually consume it in the first place.

"Jeeze, tell me what you really think, why don't you?" Percy half laughed as he looked around to make sure the topic was off of him at this point

"I'm sorry, but we've been working real hard and it just kind of screwed up everything," Will vented as he ran his free hand over his face before letting it fall. He squeezed Nico's hand beside to show that he was still aware of him being there. He flashed him a small smile behind his hand before facing the rest of the group.

What Will had said was true, Leo not being there anymore did mess everything up, but did that mean that him being there made things better or worse? Nico knew he wasn't the best actor, far from it, but it was helping him with his grade and he got to be with Will just a little bit more than normally.

But as he was remined of this once again, that he would indeed have to act in front of everyone and it not be rehearsal, that was getting to him badly. Sitting there, he couldn't hear anything besides his own internal monologue. The words rustling around him bounced off everything, but missed him, the words becoming a small null in the background of the internal buzzing that filled his ears.

Nico felt out of place once again. He was surrounded by people that he didn't really know, people that claimed to be his friends, but if they were, why did he feel so lonely, so isolated?

He stared down at his tray of food, suddenly not feeling hungry as a twisting pain rushed through him. Nico suddenly felt like he was going to puke, but he knew full well that he wasn't going to.

"Listen, bitch!" Jason spoke out, raising a finger to Annabeth who fought back.

Nico stood up after dropping Will's hand suddenly. The blond turned to face him and asked him what he was doing. The rest of the table hushed and glanced over and up to watch what was going on.

"I have to… uh… go to class, Ms…. Yeah, wants me there – early, yeah" Nico stumbled as he pointed to exit. He grabbed his tray as he slithered out and headed towards the hall.

"Not hungry?" Will asked before he could get too far. Nico and the others looked down at the tray that had everything on it, almost completely untouched. Nico struggled to find a reason when he looked back up to Will who had a knowing, almost disappointed look to him, strikingly different from the rest of the table who just looked a little confused.

"Yeah," Nico lied, looking away almost immediately to avoid Will's look of judgment crossing his face. With a quick turn on his heel, Nico headed towards the entrance of the cafeteria, dumping his tray off at the garbage, the entire contents of the tray falling into the bin with multiple _thuds!_

He quickly headed out and away, he didn't know where, but he was going there, and fast.

…

The bell had rung and Nico sat in the back of the theatre, heading up early after band as they moved all the instruments out and into the overly small band room next door. He twidded on his phone for a moment before looking at the door as people entered to drop off their bags until they were needed in costume and makeup.

He took out his note book and started to jot down notes while his script laid open off to the side of him so he could quickly glance at it whenever he felt like he was stuck on a line as he slowly went over scene by scene in his head.

The doors slammed shut as five people walked in, Kayla and Will among them. He recognised that Piper was also with them as they set their bags down.

"God, don't even get me started! Johnson came up to me and tried to tell me that it was originally Kaylie's and that I stole it," Piper exclaimed as the rest of the group laughed.

"Honestly, it would probably be more likely that Kaylie stole it from you, if anything," Kayla told her, running her hands through her messy blonde hair as she took a bite of her sub.

"Right? That's what I told him, anyways."

"Good," Will added in, stretching his back a bit, his shirt raised above his pant line.

"Will, stop being a hoe and put your shirt down! We are all children of God!" Kayla yelled at him after she swallowed her piece of her sub.

Piper joined in and reached over and yanked his shirt down.

"Fuck off, you two. I can be a hoe if I want!"

"No, you can't! How would my actual son, Nico, feel about you hoeing around behind his back?!" Piper exclaimed dramatically, no one noticing at that point that Nico was even in the room.

"Why don't you ask him?" a man Nico just recognised as Travis, one of the cops from the play, said as he pointed up to where Nico was scribbling down notes at the top of the theatre.

"Nico!" Piper yelled, "How do you feel about Will being a hoe?" She was a bit surprised that he was even there to begin, but when Nico looked down at them, she smiled.

"Will is always a hoe, but it's not like he can even get around!" Nico shouted back, smirking softly at the reaction that was given from the five below him. Will looked hurt while Kayla was about to fall over laughing.

"Shots fired!" Travis yelled, his brother which Nico could finally see, high-fiving him.

"You just got wrecked!" Piper told Will as he continued to stare Nico dead in the eyes, almost to ask him why he would hurt him that way.

"God, I love this boy, Will. You are not allowed to lose him," Kayla managed to calm down enough to tell her brother.

"Well, I guess this blueberry muffin I picked up will have to go to waste then, if that's really what you think," Will spoke with fake hurt. It wasn't even five seconds and Nico was down the flight of stairs and beside Will who had the bag in his hand.

"Give me," he said as he reached for the bag.

"Wow, that's one way to summon him," Piper mumbled with a smile as Will pulled the bag away from Nico's grasp.

"Hey!" Nico called out.

"You made fun of me," Will said with a small pout.

"Yes, everyone does. Hop onto the train, Will."

After a second of a stare off, Will huffed and handed Nico the bag who accepted it happily.

As the others started talking about how he was too easy on him, Will leaned down right before he let go of the bag and whispered, "I know you must be hungry." When he pulled back, Nico's heart skipped a beat as the feeling of dread washed over him as he held onto it.

"We're going to Starbucks, you coming Will?" Piper asked, checking her phone as Nico started to head back to the top of the theatre.

"Oh, God. Don't bring my brother with us, I have to deal with him enough," Kayla said in mock disgust.

Will looked up to where Nico was now sitting and picking at the muffin, still in side the bag, and shook his head.

"Nah, think I'm gonna chill here," he said as he waved his hand. Travis and Conner shrugged as they headed to the door.

"You sure?" Piper asked him again, eyes going from the blonde to Nico up in the corner.

"Don't try and convince him other wise," Kayla said as she pushed Piper to the door, "he already said no. Let's go!"

Will waved as the group of now four headed down the hall, the slamming of the door causing Will to look up to where Nico was now scribbling something down while a piece of muffin was hanging out of his mouth as he chewed the piece.

He headed up the stairs and when he reached the top, Nico looked up at the blond who set his bag down on the chair below him. Will smiled.

"Hey," he spoke softly, taking a seat in front of Nico on the other side of the isle.

"Hey," Nico said in return, turning his gaze back to the book in front of him, but his mind did not follow. He pretended to write down words, but none of the made any sense. "Why didn't you go with them?"

Will chuckled lowly.

"What do you mean?" he asked, leaning back a bit, stretched.

Nico gestured to the door with his pen.

"They were going to Starbucks, and you're here. Why didn't you go?" Nico reiterated.

"Can't I be here with you?" Will said, voice soft and low.

"Why would you?" Nico replied, unsure of why he said.

"What do you mean?" Will asked, leaning up as he furrowed his brows together, confused on why Nico would say that.

"Like, I'm not the most fun person around, I get that, but why would you leave your friends to be here with me when you could have gone out and done something?"

"Well," Will started, "I did go out, I got that muffin."

"And I am thankful," Nico quickly added as he shoved another piece into his mouth. Will smiled and laughed softly, followed by Nico trying not to follow because his mouth was full of muffin.

Silence fell over them as both sides tried to find words to say, tried to find the right way to say what was on their mind.

Will wanted to ask so many questions, everything he had floating in his mind was a question that lead to several more that were left open ended. But the one bothering him the most was the matter of earlier today.

"You feeling okay?" Will asked, voice soft and full of support.

Nico sighed and shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just been… hard, I guess. With everything."

Will thought about it for a while, uncrossing his arms from around his legs, leaning forward.

"Is it about tonight… or…" Will slowly said, trying to chose his words correctly.

Another shrug.

"Tonight," Nico said with almost a way that was disregarding the other lingering word that fell deaf to ears.

"You'll do fine," Will tried to reassure him, but Nico looked away, trying to find his own world.

"It's not that I'm worried about. It's just… everyone is counting on me, and even if I mess up, it feels like I'm letting them down. Even with the fact that I'm not even sure what I'm doing here most of the times."

When Nico and Will locked eyes for the first time after a beat of silence fell over them, Will was the first one to smile, showing Nico that no matter what, he was there, in which Nico returned by shoving another piece of the muffin in his mouth. Will snorted. Nico smiled.

"Just know that I'll be right beside you the entire time if you ever get nervous or scared." Will winked at the younger male causing him to cough on the piece of muffin he had failed to properly swallow. "Oh God, don't die!" Will reached over to him, now slightly worried at the increase in coughing.

When Nico was finally done choking, his face lit up and it turned into laughter. Will let out a sigh of relief, joining him in a small fit of laughter.

It was a small moment, but they managed clear the air, bonding over Nico's choking.

"Don't die now, I just got you," Will said in a soft voice, a slight wave of relief flooding his voice.

Nico smiled, also slightly relieved to catch his breath.

"I'll try not to, no promises, though," he joked, both joining in one last wide smile, fighting back laughter from just eye contact.

Will reached over towards Nico, his hand fighting his own will to not move, but as if it had a mind of its own, it rejected that idea and reached for Nico's. Nico looked up when he suddenly felt another hand on his own, the heat from another man resonating through the touch.

Will, though, was looking away, down at the stage. Nico tried to fight off the heat coming strongly from his ears as he traced the blond's strong jawline with his eyes, ending his scan at the same stage he was staring at.

"I…" Will started, his own voice getting caught somewhere between his brain and his mouth. With a soft sigh, he turned to look at Nico, something else lying behind his eyes that he wasn't saying. "I'm glad that you are here."

Nico furrowed his brows.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You," Will said, "with you beside me, things are starting to become clear."

"How?"

"You make so much sense… in a very complicated way. You think ten steps ahead for everything, yet you always make sure four behind you is covered."

"That's a weird way of putting it," Nico spoke softly, smiling ever so slightly.

"You're a weird person."

Silence.

"What are we?" Nico asked abruptly, even surprising Will whom looked back at him with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?" It was Will's turn to be confused.

"Well," Nico started, trying to keep his train of thought together, "we haven't known each other for that long… and well, we've been thrown together by this… thing." He clenched his hand that was holding Will's – his left. "And I guess this means we have to… be… It's just, even after all this, what… are we?"

Will sat in reticence, only the sound of the air exchange and Nico's pounding heart screaming in the younger man's ears.

"Well," Will thought out loud, straightening his back and dropping Nico's hand, "I know how I feel, and by that standard, I am able to tell you what I feel we are, but I am not able to talk on behave of you."

"Assume that you could speak for me," Nico rushed in a quiet, almost hushed voice.

Will locked eyes with him, but Nico quickly looked away for one reason or another.

"Assuming I could speak for you, as in the terms that we are equal," Will spoke, pausing for a moment for dramatic effect, "I would call you my boyfriend."

Boyfriend.

That word echoed throughout Nico's mind.

Boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

 _Boyfriend._

Will would classify him as his _boyfriend._

Something deep inside of him locked in place and suddenly he felt like he weighed three hundred pounds, yet weightless all at the same time.

When Nico finally managed to lift his eyes up to meet his gaze, an endless sea of blue stared deadly back at him. His breath got caught in his throat.

"And you?" Will asked after what felt like a life time.

"What?" Nico asked with a voice crack.

"What would you say?" Will asked, knowing full well what he was saying.

"What I say?"

"Yeah," Will chuckled.

"I would… uhh…" Nico looked away from the blond for a moment, waiting for his heart to stop pounding so he could find his breath. One deep breath later and he slowly looked back over to the man before him. "I too would call you my – my boyfriend."

Silence.

Will smiled.

Silence.

Nico couldn't hear anything but the pounding of his heart as his blood rushed everywhere, leaving him feeling uncomfortably warn, especially in the face.

Silence.

"Good," Will spoke sternly, reaching for Nico's hand once again, taking it and holding it harder this time. Nico squeezed back, as if his entire life depended on it.

….

The both of them talked about everything and anything they could think of, neither of the mentioning the fact that just between them their hands connected, gripped in a hold that no one would be able to break.

Will picked up his phone with his other hand, turning it on the check the time.

"Oh shit, look's like we got an hour before we have to be in full costume and makeup," Will said, setting his phone back down and looking over at Nico who looked up at him.

"Damn, guess we better get ready," he said, not sounding too convinced himself.

"It's gonna be fine, but we should get a start on that."

With a nod, Will pulled out a small bag, finally letting go of the other hand.

"You doing your own makeup?" Nico asked, leaning back.

"God, I wish I wasn't, I'm complete shit at it," Will moaned, unzipping it.

"Want me to do it?" Nico asked upon impulse.

"What?" Will asked, both of them confused for a moment before Nico smiled and sat up, smiling.

"What me to do it?"" he asked again.

"You actually know how to do it?"

"My sister made sure that I did after last times events… But I know enough to help you out if you want."

"Sure!" Will exclaimed, rezipping it back up and tossing it over to his boyfriend, a word that still seemed almost foreign to him.

Nico unzipped it and pulled out everything, dabbing a bit of foundation onto his hand as Will ran his fingers through his hair. Nico could feel his face heat up as he leaned in closer to work.

He took the brush and started to apply the cream to his face, reached for a sponge after it was laid where he needed it to be.

As he worked, he couldn't believe that it was out in the open. He knew everyone had already assumed, but it was still insane to think that this man was his boyfriend. A man he once avoided now sat in front of his, gripping his pantleg as he applied makeup on his face.

Life worked in strange says, but he was not upset about it. It was crazy, but he was genuinely happy. Life had thrown him so many ups and downs, that when he finally sat back and say what he had worked so hard for, things actually started to look bright. For once, he was happy.

"Alright, close your eyes," Nico told Will who closed them for a moment, just to open one again to look at Nico. "Dude, seriously," Nico laughed while Will gingerly did as he was told, though sceptically.

As Nico squirted a cream on the back of his hand, he slowly thought over the silence that had surrounded them – and that he embraced with both arms, for one.

Brushing on the foundation was relaxing for the both of them, nothing really coming between the two of them, words finally out in the open between the two of them. With each new product, a new wave of relief flooded everything.

Boyfriend.

It was a strange word, one that neither of them would come to label them, but as concealer came into play, it was a word that they both hoped would stay in play for many more moments to come.

"Are you done yet?" Will asked sarcastically, breaking into a small smile.

"Shut up or we'll never be done!" Nico scolded him, tapping his shoulder with the end of a brush he picked up.

Will snickered, but did as he was told.

"Now hold still, this is the tricky part," Nico told him, reaching over to grab the pencil eyeliner, opening it and drawing a line on the back of his hand.

"Don't poke my eye out."

"If you keep talking, it'll be up to you to figure out whether it was on purpose or not," Nico mumbled, earning a small chuckle from the blond who did hard to follow his words.

With four quick lines, the top lid of both eyes was done. As Nico rearranged himself, he informed Will to open his eyes and look up.

"Again, if you-"

"Shut up, Will!" Nico yelled at him, causing both males to laugh a little.

And after ten seconds, Nico told him to blink before the mascara.

"There, the eyes are done."

Will wiggled his eyebrows that had a little filling done to them, earning a small chuckle from the younger male.

"You are weird," Nico told him, shaking his head.

"But I am sexy, right?" Will asked, obviously laying it on thick, especially with his movement, but Nico shrugged him off with a simple eyeroll. "Am I able to do yours?"

"I thought you weren't good at makeup?"

Will shrugged with a sly smile.

"I'm not good on myself, but I'm pretty half decent guessing on other people," he explained.

"Well," Nico started, throwing the bag of makeup at his boyfriend, "you re out of luck. The girls already called dibs on that."

"Aww, that makes me actually sad."

Nico stuck his tongue out, smirking as Will continued his over-dramatic pout.

"Anyways," Nico said as he stretched his back out after leaning over for way too long, "looks like we shout get ready, as in costume, don't want Mrs. A to yell at us for being late."

"Oh c'mon!" Will complained as Nico stood up, dusting himself off, "we still have some time."

"Get into costume, young man, don't make me have to speak again!"

Will huffed loudly.

"FINE!"

"Good, now," Nico paused as he bent down to pick up his wrapper to his muffin, "let's go not fuck this up!"

"Yeah!"

….

As Will walked out of the main changeroom, everyone was laughing, pulling at one another's costumes, and applying makeup on one another right in the open.

"Hey, loser!" Kayla called out, heading towards the opposite changeroom adjacent to the main one.

"Whaddup?" Will called back, raising his hand to wave to his sister.

"Looking sexy," one of the girls shouted out, sarcastically. Will simply flipped them off before the two of them shared a laugh.

"Hey, you know where Nico is?" he asked her as she looked over her makeup in her handheld mirror. She slapped it shut and turned to face him again.

"I don't know where your boyfriend is. He might be in the girls' changeroom. They might have snatched him."

"Yeah, he did say something about makeup. Thanks," he replied, only receiving a simple half-hearted hand motion.

Will made his way over to the changeroom, only to be stopped by a girl in only black shorts, stockings, and a sports bra, her makeup and hair completely done.

"Nuh uh uh!" she spoke as she leaned on the door frame, people coming in and out, music blaring from the room. She raised her brow at the blond while her arms remained crossed. "I was ordered by the girls to not let you enter this changeroom."

"What if I needed something from within?" Will challenged her, raising his chin to appear larger, hand on his hip.

"Well that would be a you problem."

"Really?"

"Yeah," she replied with a smirk.

Will shifted his weight back and forth on either leg ass he thought over options in his mind. He knew running past her was not going to work, so with one more shift, he started to nod, putting his hands up in defence.

"Alright then, I guess I'll let you be," he said in defeat, starting to walk away.

Will headed back to the theatre seats, whipping his phone out, and checking his messages. After a few minutes, he looked up and made eye contact with the girl still only in her sports bra in front of the door.

"You're mean!" Will yelled at her to which her only response was to flip him off with a smile.

It wasn't long until the girl in the sports bra kicked off the wall and headed inside the changeroom. Will had long abandoned the chair he found himself in and instead joined a small group of his friends. While they would occasionally speak only in musical theatre references, most times was just making fun of each other, but in a kind-ish way.

….

"Whaddup?" the sports bra girl asked as she entered the room.

"Almost done," called Piper who was on the counter, kicking her feet.

"Sicc," she said. "How's it looking?"

"Amazing!" called Katie, a petite girl with her messy hair shoved into a bun.

"Don't I get a say?" Nico asked from within the hoard of girls, all watching in slight awe as her and Piper went back and forth with the makeup brush while someone pushed and pulled at his hair.

"No," was simply all that was spoken. A mutual laugh flooded the room as a small sigh passed through his lips.

"Anyways, shook the blond off, so we all good for when you are."

"Sweet," Piper added, dipping her brush once more into the powder before adding the final bit.

…..

"Introducing," Piper announced, standing in the middle of the stage, "the new, and might I add, improve-"

"Hey!"

"Nico!"

Will turned around and his heart skipped a beat. He had seen Nico in makeup before, but not to this extent. He was even more beautiful than before, and he thought that was hard to already beat.

"Doesn't he look great?" Piper asked Will, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

"I… um – uh, I," he stuttered, tripping over his own tongue. While Piper giggled softly to herself, Nico turned his head to hide his embarrassment.

Kayla slapped her brother's back.

"Don't be shy, tell your boyfriend he looks hella hot with eyeliner on," she spoke casually, on hand in her pocket.

"You look hella hot," Will blurted out, more on instinct than manual speech. He bit his lip the moment after.

Rubbing his arm, Nico walked away from them to meet Will in the middle, they had dispersed afterwards to finish up their own thing before they had to be completely ready.

"I should have known," Nico said, gesturing gingerly over his shoulder at the girls. "You know, that they would do that."

"Yeah," Will said, motioning with his shoulders as his hands fled to his pocket. "But you do look nice."

"Really?" Nico asked shyly.

With a nod, Will replied with a simple, "Yes."

"Thanks," was all Nico could manage.

…..

Everyone stood in costume, talking as they waited, the theatre door opened with a hard thud. As everyone turned heads to look and see if it was Mrs. A. But instead of the teacher, there stood a curly haired boy dressed with suspenders.

"Leo?" a girl in the back called out, everyone staring directly at him now.

"What's up, bitches?!" he shouted as he walked in, the door slamming behind him.

"You loser!" Piper called out, throwing her empty water bottle at him, going up and hugging him directly after.

"Love you too, beauty queen."

"Say that again and I will shank you," she whispered in his ears as she pulled away.

"Pi, you scare me," he spoke back as he was left with open arms.

From beside Will, Callie, coffee in hand, stared directly at Leo, whom, once spotted him, placed one hand on her hip and raised a brow.

"Miss me?" he asked her, wiggling his brows was he walked forward.

"Don't," she warned, but Leo didn't listen as he continued to walk forward, taking her into a giant hug.

"Don't care," he said as she loosened up and hugged him back.

"You are an idiot," she muttered.

"I'm your idiot," he replied, which earned a slight push after they broke away from the hug.

"Leo, my man!" Will called out, meeting the Latino man in a crisp high-five.

"Willy, how you doing?"

"Very fine, you know, after you left."

"Sorry," he apologized, "but we had to move in with my grandma, and you know how she is."

"Yeah, yeah, what ever," he said, taking Leo into a hug, the entire cast and crew speaking to one another or directly to Leo.

After a soft moment, Leo turned to face Nico who stood in the costume that was once his.

"And you must be a new Faven," Leo said, standing face to face with Nico, the two of them simply looking the other over. "I proudly pass my torch over to you."

"Bitch, you hardly did shit!" Kayla yelled from the back, earning a laugh from the ensemble.

"Screw you, Kayla!"

"You wish!"

Leo shook his head and gave Nico one more nod before talking to the rest of the cast. A small bit passed before Mrs. A started to yell at them to get ready, the cast and crew growing excited.

"Hey Leo!" Will shouted, "want to lead the circle?"

"Damn right I do!" he shouted as everyone gathered in the center of the stage. Everyone joined hands as they swung their feet, a weird tradition that no one is quite sure who started. "Here we are, standing here today-"

"No one's getting married," Kayla shouted at him.

"Shut up, Kathy!" he shot back, earning laughter from a few actors who understood. "Tonight is opening night, and y'all are gonna do amazing, I expect nothing less. I am beyond excited to say that months of hard work is about to pay off for everyone here tonight, and while this might be the seniors' final show, it isn't their last night on the stage. Give it everything you got until Friday night.

"Now, before I get hated on for being the opposite of those words, I feel like I need to pass this off." Leo looked at Nico and smiled. "From one Faven to the next, I pass this off to you."

Nico stood with wide eyes as everyone turned to face him. With a deep breath, he thought out his words carefully.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this, so here I go. I may not have been here for as long as others, but I know how hard you all have worked for this. I am beyond excited to share this stage with you as I mess up ad you all save me. Now, with nothing more to say, may the flames from my bridges light your way."

Everyone cheered as Will, Piper, and Kayla started to yell at once, "On the count of three, everyone yell 'Second-Hand Trial!'"

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Second-Hand Trail!"

The crowd broke away and the cast and crew took their place, Leo peace-ing out to go wait for the doors to official open.

With his hand still tightly in Nico's, Will looked down at the young man beside him.

"You ready?" Will asked.

"Only if you're there to pick me up when I fall," Nico responded.

….

 ** _Oh god, I feel like I have a lot to say. Like, what should I say? Why it took so long? Well, if u follow, side friend, you know I put all my sories on hold while I finished that one. And while my health got worse, I ended up doing very little. I have been writing, like, I wrote a play last year and I'm doing another one._**

 ** _So anyways, if you weren't aware, this was a chapter that had already been written, but a huge majority of the first bit of the break was trying to recover my broken USB, but at this point, I don't even know where it is and I've officially lost so much work, such as a whole play, the OG chapters of this story, and an entire story you will never see now. Sadly._**

 ** _But as I enter senior year, I will do y best to ballence the lack of motivation to do literaly ANYTHING and actually having to do work the best I can. Proise._**

 ** _On a happy note, this story is fully planned, right to the end. So I am aware of how it will end. Expect maybe 50-ish chapters. I got two full arks to get through before you can say bye to this for real this time._**

 ** _Feel free to yell at me, write your thougts, or just straight up what think is gonna be the massive plot change that's gonna go down, I would LOVE to hear your theories. And even sometimes they r better than my own and I sort of use them. SO hit me up! Every bit of feedback I hear from yall makes my day_**

 ** _And you can also go to Side Friend's last chapter where a bunch of info is given and vote for the next Christmas story you want. I'm letting you guys pick!_**

 ** _Kitty out!_**


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